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DARIUS    GOFF. 


HISTORIGAU    ADDRESSES 
/ 

AND  OTHER  EXERCISES 

AT     THE 

CELEBEATTON  OF  THE 

TWO  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTIETH 
ANNIVERSARY 

OF  THE  SETTLEMENT 

OF 

REHOBOTH,  MASS. 
Held    October   3,  1894. 

Edited  by  Thomas  W.  Btckxell,  A.  M.  LL.  D, 


INTRODUCTORY. 


At  tlie  aiiiuuil  meeting  of  the  Kehoboth  Aiitiqiuirian  Society,  held 
in  March,  1894,  Esek  II.  riercc,  one  of  tlie  TJoard  of  Trustees  of  said 
Society,  moved  tliat  Eeliohoth  shouUT  celebrate  its  2b0th  anniversary 
during  the  present  year.  After  some  discussion  it  was  voted  to  rec- 
ommend a  celebration  of  the  250th  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of 
the  town  and  a  committee  was  chosen,  consisting  of  Esek  H.  Pierce, 
Xathaniel  B.  Horton,  George  X.  Goff,  William  W.  Blanding,  lieuben 
Bowen  and  John  C.  Marvel,  to  take  such  action  thereon  as  might 
seem  most  advisable.  At  a  meeting  of  this  Committee  held  in  June, 
1894,  it  was  voted  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  stockholders  of  the  Anti- 
(juarian  Society,  to  take  further  action  relative  to  such  a  celebration. 
The  meeting  of  the  stockholders  was  held  in  July  when  it  was  voted 
to  hold  a  Celebration  as  proposed  and  Two  Hundred  dollars  were  ap- 
])ropriated  for  that  i)urpose.  A  committee  was  appointed  consisting 
of  Esek  II.  Pierce,  Xathaniel  B.  Horton,  Edgar  Perry,  George  N. 
Goff,  AVilliam  W.  Blanding,  Gustavus  B.  Peck  and  Elisha  Davis  to 
carry  out  the  purposes  of  the  Society  in  regard  to  this  anniversary. 
Tlic  Committee  organized  immediately  by  the  choice  of  Esek  II. 
Pierce  as  Cliairman  and  Edgar  Perry  as  Secretary  and  arranged  for 
tlie  celebration  to  be  held  on  the  Third  day  of  October,  1894. 


REHOBOTH 

IN  BRIEF  REVIEW, 


13Y  EDGAR  PERRY. 


What  is  now  Bristol  county  originall}^  consisted  of  four 
towns — Taunton,  settled  in  1639,  Rehoboth,  lG'i4,  Dart- 
mouth, 1652,  and  Freetown  in  1683.  The  original  limits 
of  Taunton  included  Norton,  Easton,  Mansfield,  Dighton, 
Berkeley  and  Raynham  :  Dartmouth  included  Westport, 
Fairhaven,  New  Bedford  and  Acushnet ;  Freetown  includ- 
ed Fall  River ;  and  Rehoboth  included  the  towns  of  Attle- 
boro,  Nortli  Attleboro,  Seekonk  and  Swansea  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  in  Rhode  Island  all  the  lands  east  of  the 
Blackstone  river  and  Narragansett  Bay,  namely,  Cumber- 
land, Pawtucket,  East  Providence  and  Barrington. 

The  present  year  marks  the  250th  anniversary  of  the 
settlement  of  ancient  Rehoboth,  and  the  200tli  anniversary 
of  the  incorporation  of  the  town  of  Attleboro. 

During  the  first  50  years  subsequent  to  their  settlement 
through  the  more  dangerous  of  the  Indian  wars,  the  towns 
of  Rehoboth  and  the  Rehoboth  North  Purchase,  or  Attle- 
boro, had  a  common  history.  It  was  second  in  interest 
and  importance  to  that  of  no  town  in  Massachusetts 
though  their  proximity  to  Narraganset  Bay  and  their  con- 
sequent social  and  industrial  relations  with  Rhode  Island 


4  250X11    ANNIVERSARY    OF    REHOBOTH. 

lias  not  gained  for  their  achievements  the  recognition  in 
some  part  of  the  state  which  is  accorded  their  sister  towns 
on  the  Atlantic. 

Iriterestirig   Facts. 

It  may  not  be  generally  known  that  William  Black- 
stone,  the  first  settler  of  Shawmut,  or  Boston,  was  also  the 
first  settler  of  Rehoboth ;  that  Col.  Thomas  Willett,  the 
first  mayor  of  New  York,  was  a  Rehoboth  pioneer,  and  is 
buried  within  the  ancient  limits  of  that  town;  that  Reho- 
both was  the  frontier  town  of  Plymouth  colony  during 
King  Philip's  war,  and  that  the  first  blood  and  the  final 
overthrow  of  the  conflict  were  seen  within  its  boundaries ; 
that  Rev.  Samuel  Newman,  Rehoboth's  first  pastor,  wrote 
by  the  light  of  pine  knots  in  the  wilderness,  the  first  com- 
plete concordance  of  the  Bible,  which  is  still  one  of  the 
best ;  that  the  first  free  public  school  supported  by  general 
taxation  was  created  by  the  foresight  of  Rehoboth  freemen  ; 
that  when  the  two  colonies  of  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts 
Bay  united,  Rehoboth,  the  largest  town  in  Plymouth,  and 
Boston,  the  largest  town  in  Massachusetts  Bay  colony,  had 
a  sharp  contest  to  see  which  should  have  the  honor  of  being 
the  capital  of  the  new  commonwealth,  and  that  Boston  won 
the  prize  only  by  a  few  votes. 

SettleiTient  of  Rehobotln. 

The  first  purchase  of  Rehoboth  land  was  made  of 
Massasoit  in  1641,  and  embraced  a  tract  10  miles  square, 
comprising  the  present  towns  of  Rehoboth,  Seekonk,  Paw- 
tucket  and  East  Providence.  The  second  purchase  was 
the  tract  called  English  Wannamoiset,  forming  a  part  of 
Swansea  and  Barrington.  The  third  and  last  purchase  was 
a  tract  embracing  the  present  towns  of  Attleboro,  North 
Attleboro  and  Cumberland,  R.  I.,  known  as  the  Rehoboth 


IN    JJRIEF    K1^:VIE\V.  5 

North  Purchase.  Taken  together,  the  territory  had  many 
advantages  to  recommend  it  for  settlement.  It  had  almost 
every  variety  of  soil,  was  fertile  and  well  wooded,  and,  on 
the  side  toward  Narragansett  bay  there  were  large,  tree- 
less expanses,  admirably  iitted  for  tillage  or  grazing,  known 
then,  as  now,  as  Seekonk  plains.  This  rare  advantage, 
with  the  fine  water  power  furnished  by  the  Blackstone 
river,  and  the  ample  harbor  provided  by  Narragansett  bay, 
certainly  gave  to  the  new  territory  promises  of  success  and 
prosperity  which  few  towns  in  Massachusetts  could  boast. 

The  first  entry  on  page  1,  volume  1  of  the  Reboboth 
records,  is  dated  Oct.  24,  1643.  It  relates  to  the  doings 
of  the  first  of  the  original  planters  of  Rehoboth,  and  was 
held  in  Weymouth.  The  proprietors  voted  that  they  would 
all  occupy  their  Rehoboth  lots  with  their  families  next  year, 
namely  1644,  and  provided,  as  a  spur  to  the  pioneer  spirit, 
that  if  any  failed  to  do  so,  they  should  forfeit  their  lots. 
There  were  a  few  men  who  took  up  farms  here  and  there 
in  ''Seaconk"  or  Rehoboth  in  1641  and  1642,  but  there 
seems  to  have  been  no  organization  of  the  settlers,  until 
1643,  no  occupation  of  the  new  territory  with  the  families, 
churches  and  schools  until  1644. 

The  exodus  from  Weymouth  took  place  early  in  1644, 
and  was  led  by  Rev.  Samuel  Newman,  at  the  head  of  his 
flock.  On  July  5,  the  inhabitants  met  near  what  is  now 
East  Providence  village,  and  signed  the  following  compact: 

"We,  whose  names  are  underwriten,  being  by  the  prov- 
idence of  God,  inhabitants  of  Seaconk,  intending  here  to 
settle,  do  covenant  and  bind  ourselves  one  to  another,  to 
subject  ourselves  to  nine  persons  *  *  *  *  and  to 
assist  them  according  to  our  ability  and  estate,  and  to  give 
timely  notice  unto  them  of  any  such  thing  as  in  our  con- 


6  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

science  may  prove  dangerous  to  the  plantation,  and  this 
combination  to  continue  until  we  shall  subject  ourselves 
jointly  to  some  other  government." 

The  significant  thing  about  this  compact  is,  that  the  pro- 
prietors considered  themselves  entirely  independent.  Their 
governing,  legislative  and  judicial  powers  were  vested  in 
the  committee  of  nine  persons,  and  every  settler  reserved 
not  onl}^  the  right,  but  imposed  upon  himself  the  duty  of 
giving  this  authoritative  body  such  advice  as  he  might  deem 
expedient.  It  is  hard  to  conceive  of  a  more  perfect  democ- 
racy than  that.  Their  autonomy,  however,  did  not  last 
long.  Both  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts  Bay  colonies  re- 
garded the  flourishing  settlement  with  covetous  eyes,  and 
both,  in  the  secrecy  of  their  official  chambers,laid  claim  to 
it.  In  1645  the  commissioners  of  the  united  colonies  as- 
signed them  to  Plymouth  court  and  they  were  incorporated 
by  the  scriptural  name  of  Rehoboth,  signifying  "room." 
It  was  selected  by  Rev.  Mr.  Newman,  who  said  :  "The 
Lord  hatli  made  room  for  us." 

Town  Divisions. 

The  first  division  of  the  town  was  caused  by  religious 
differences,  a  party  of  Baptists  withdrawing  from  Parson 
Newman's  church  and  founding  the  first  Baptist  church  in 
•  Massachusetts  in  Swansea.  The  town  of  Swansea  was  in- 
corporated in  1677,  and  tlien  included  within  its  limits  the 
present  towns  of  Somerset,  Barrington  and  tlic  greater  part 
of  Warren,  R.  I. 

The  second  departure  from  the  parent  settlement  on 
Seekonk  phain  was  toward  the  nortli,  and  was  made  in  1666. 
These  pioneers  were  the  settlers  of  the  Rehoboth  Nortli  Pur- 
chase and  the  founders  of  the  town  of  Attleboro.     This 


IN    lUllEK   REVIEW.  7 

northern  colony,  including  then  the  present  towns  of 
Attleboro,  Cumberland  and  North  Attleboro,  was  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  Kehoboth  until  Oct.  19,  1(594,  when  it 

was  incorporated  as  the  town  of  Attleboro. 

The  third  division,  which  reduced  the  town  to  its 
present  territorial  limits,  was  made  in  1812,  when  tlie  then 
existing  town  of  Kehoboth,  which  extended  westward  to 
the  Blackstone  river  and  Narraganset  bay, was  divided  into 
two  nearly  equal  parts,  the  western  portion  taking  the  In- 
dian name  of  Seekonk. 

Seekonk  remained  a  most  influential  and  promising 
township  until  the  western  portion  of  its  land  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  State  of  Rhode  Island  by  the  establishment 
of  the  new  line  between  the  states.  Rehoboth  and  See- 
konk people  have  always  felt  that  this  fixing  of  state 
boundaries,  robbing  them  as  it  did  of  the  very  portion  of 
their  domain  which  had  invited  the  earliest  settlers,  was 
an  act  justified  by  no  sound  policy,  private  or  public,  nor 
by  any  substantial  claim  of  title,  either  in  history  or  justice. 

Indian  Conflicts. 

King  Philip's  war,  the  greatest  of  Indian  conflicts,  and 
one  which  menaced  not  merely  the  liberty  but  the  very  ex- 
istence of  the  colonists,  began  and  ended  within  the  limits 
of  ancient  Rehoboth.  All  this  region  was  originally  in 
the  domain  of  Massasoit,  the  fast  friend  of  the  English. 
It  was  inherited  by  the  son,  Wamsutta,  and  from  him 
passed  to  his  brother  Metacomet,  or  King  Philip.  The 
proximity  of  Rehoboth  to  King  Philip's  headquarters  at 
Mt.  Hope,  and  the  fact  of  its  being  the  heritage  of  his  fore- 
fathers, exposed  this  frontier  settlement  to  the  brunt  of 
savage  ferocity  and  vengeance.  In  apprehension  of  dangers 


8  250th  anniversary  of   rehoboth. 

the  colonists  were  gathered  into  three  garrisons.  The  first, 
Woodcock's  garrison,  was  located  in  North  Attleboro  on 
the  site  of  the  old  Hatch  house,  and  a  portion  of  the  build- 
ing is  still  standing.  The  second  garrison  was  at  Seekonk 
Common,  and  stood  where  the  present  ancient  house  of 
Phanuel  Bishop  now  is.  The  third  of  the  three  houses 
was  none  other  than  the  I'esidence  of  the  famous  Baptist 
divine,  John  Myles,  and  this  is  standing  intact  to-day  near 
Myles'  bridge  in  Swansea.  Its  walls  are  of  stone,  several 
feet  in  thickness,  and  altogether  it  is  one  of  the  oldest  and 
most  unique  houses  in  the  state.  The  brick  for  the  chim- 
ney was  brought  from  England.  King  Philip's  war  began 
with  the  attack  *at  Miles'  bridge  in  Swansea  and  ended 
with  the  capture  of  Anawan  in  Rehoboth. 

Educational  Progress. 

But  the  chief  glory  of  the  earlier  settlers  of  Rehoboth 
was  not  their  military  prowess  nor  their  material  prosperi- 
ty, but  their  advanced  stand  in  establishing  a  free  public 
school.  Rehoboth  claims  the  honor  of  originating  the  idea 
of  free,  universal,  compulsor}^  public  education,  maintained 
by  the  taxation  of  all  citizens.  Its  claim  is  based  on  the 
statement  of  the  Digest  of  the  Statutes  of  Massachusetts, 
issued  in  June,  1892.  This  work,  in  referring  to  the  act 
of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  colony,  passed  in  1647,  says : 

"The  act  of  1647  make  the  support  of  public  schools 
compulsory,  and  education  universal  and  free.  As  this 
was  the  first  law  of  the  kind  ever  passed  by  any  community 
of  persons,  or  by  any  state,  Massachusetts  may  claim  the 
honor  of  having  originated  the  free  public  school." 

That,  according  to  this  compiler,  was  the  record  as  he 
found  it  up  to  1647.  But  he  overlooked  an  ancient  docu- 
ment now  in   the   hands  of  the  town  clerk  of  Rehoboth. 


TN    nillEF    REVIEW.  9 

It  is  the  record  of  the  second  meeting  of  the  proprietors 
of  Relioboth,  held  at  Weymouth,  Dec.  10,  1(343.  At  tliis 
meeting  they  not  only  placed  a  schoolmaster  fiftli  in  tlieir 
list  of  proprietors,  but  decreed  that  he  should  ''■•have  a 
certain  portion  from  each  settler  for  his  support."  This 
decree  was  not  only  made  four  years  earlier  than  the  act 
of  1647,  but  it  took  more  emphatic  ground;  for  in  that 
act  the  teachers  were  to  be  paid  "either  by  the  parents  or 
masters  of  such  children,  or  by  the  inhabitants  in  general." 
Clearly,  there  w^as  a  chance  under  these  provisions,  that 
the  support  of  the  school  might  be  shifted  from  the  "in- 
habitants in  general"  to  those  who  already  had  to  support 
the  children.  There  was  no  such  loophole,  however,  in 
the  Rehoboth  measure  ;  that  read  :  "every  settler,"  wheth- 
er he  had  children  to  send  or  not. 

RELIGIOUS     HISTORY. 

Tiie  history  of  the  early  colonies  is  the  history  of  the 
churches.  The  exigencies  of  religious  affairs  decided  when 
and  wliere  the  branches  of  the  parent  church  should  lo- 
cate. The  ih'st  departure  from  Pastor  Newman's  church 
was  a  forced  one,  and  the  dissenting  members  united  with 
John  Myles  in  founding  the  First  Baptist  Church  at 
Swansea.  The  second  exodus  was  pacific  and  in  1710  es- 
tablished the  first  parish  in  Attleboro,  building  the  churcli 
at  Oldtown.  The  third  division  came  in  1721,  and  found- 
ed the  present  Congregational  Church  in  Rehoboth  vil- 
lage. A  fourth  Congregational  parish  was  created  in 
1743  by  the  division  of  the  Attleboro  parish,  and  the 
building  of  the  "Second  Precinct"  church  at  Attleboro 
Centre.  The  "Sixth-Principle  Baptist"  denomination, 
whose  creed  is  found  in  the  first  and  second  verses  in  the 
sixth  chapter  of  Hebrews,  founded  the  Oak  Swamp  Church, 
laid   the   foundation   for  the   Methodist  Church  at  North 


10  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

Relioboth,  aucl  is  to-day  represented  in  the  Hornbine 
Church  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  town.  This  church 
was  founded  in  1753,  and  is  famous  for  its  great  "Horn- 
bine  clambake"  that  dines  3000  or  more  people  every  Sep- 
tember. The  first  church  established  in  the  present  lim- 
its of  North  Attleboro  was  the  present  Baptist  congrega- 
tion, and  curiously  enough,  was  built  in  1769,  just  100 
years  after  John  Woodcock,  the  first  settler  of  Attleboro, 
built  his  famous  tavern.  In  other  words,  by  a  curious 
decree  of  fate,  North  Attleboro  had  a  tavern  100  years  be- 
fore it  had  a  church.  If  it  ever  deserved  its  soubriquet 
of  "Brimstone  City,"  possibly  this  circumstance  may  help 
to  explain  it. 

PATRIOTIC  SPIRIT. 

The  militar}^  history  of  Attleboro  and  Rehoboth  is  a 
part  of  the  splendid  record  which  is  the  glory  of  every 
section  of  Massachusetts.  Attleboro  men  in  their  As- 
sonet  exj^edition,  only  missed  the  honor  of  opening  the 
revolutionary  conflict,  the  honor  that  fell  to  Lexington  a 
few  days  later,  because  their  military  success  was  so  great. 
Col.  Daggett  of  Attleboro  set  out  on  April  9,  1775,  for 
Assonet  or  Freetown,  for  the  purpose  of  capturing  a  lot  of 
British  stores  and  arms  and  breaking  up  a  band  of  Royal- 
ists that  had  established  itself  there. 

This  was  bearing  arms  against  the  royal  government, 
and  if  the  colonists'  coup  had  not  checked  resistance,  the 
first  blood  of  the  revolution  would  have  been  shed  by  At- 
tleboro men  and  in  Bristol  count}^ 

Attleboro  has  the  honor,  however,  of  anticipating  the 
spirit,  and  almost  the  words  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence, two  months  before  that  instrument  was  executed. 
At  a  meeting   held  in   May,  1776,  the  town  sent  this  re- 


IN    BIMEF    REVIEW.  H 

niaikable  message  to  her  representative  in  Congress :  ''If 
the  Continental  Congress  should  tliink  it  best  to  declare; 
for  independency  of  Great  Britian,  we  unanimously  desire 
you  for  us  to  engage  to  defend  them  with  our  lives  and 
our  fortunes." 

MANUFACTURING    ENTERPRISES. 

The  water  power  furnished  by  the  Ten-Mile  river, 
Palmer's  river,  Seven-mile  river  and  other  streams  in  tlie 
territory  of  the  two  towns,  caused  many  manufacturing 
enterprises  to  spring  up.  In  Rehoboth,  however,  the  lack 
of  freight  facilities  and  the  competition  of  firms  with 
larger  capital  have  closed  them  all,  except  the  wood  turn- 
ing establishment  of  Charles  Perry  &  Co.  at  Perryville. 
The  town  is,  however,  remarkable  for  the  large  industries 
that  have  started  within  its  limits.  Samuel  Slater's  first 
cotton  mill  started  in  1790,  though  rightly  claimed  as  one 
of  the  glories  of  Pawtucket,  was  erected  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Blackstone,  and  therefore  upon  Rehoboth  soil.  The 
Union  Wadding  Company  of  Pawtucket  started  at  Reho- 
both village,  and  the  process  of  making  wadding  in  a  con- 
tinuous sheet  was  invented  there.  Dexter  Wheeler,  pupil 
of  Samuel  Slater,  and  founder  of  the  cotton  industries  of 
Fall  River,  ran  his  first  mill  in  Rehoboth.  One-fourth  of 
the  stock  of  the  first  mill  built  in  Fall  River  was  owned 
in  Rehoboth. 

ATTLEBORO'S  ADVANCE. 

Attleboro's  industrial  history,  unlike  Rehoboth,  has 
shown  a  steady  advance.  Its  largest  enterprise,  as  is  well 
known,  is  the  manufacture  of  jewelry.  It  was  one  of  tlie 
first  places  in  the  country  for  this  industry,  and  its  annual 
output  now  amounts  to  110,000,000.  It  began  in  handi- 
craft in    1780,  and    has    been    developed,  until    tlie   most 


12  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

complicated  macliiiiery  is  employed  in  its  production.  It 
is  a  calling  where  the  work  is  continually  changing  with 
the  demands  of  fashion,  and  requires  a  high  order  of  intelli- 
gence and  much  mechanical  skill  for  its  execution.  The 
progress  of  the  business  previous  to  the  war  was  not  great, 
but  for  the  past  25  years,  and  especially  since  the  early 
seventies,  its  extension  has  been  rapid. 

The  hrst  factory  of  any  note  was  built  by  Manning 
Richards  in  1811  at  North  Attleboro.  Other  well  known 
firms,  in  the  order  of  their  establishment,  are  as  follows : 
Draper,  Tifft  &  Co.,  1821 ;  Ira  Richards  &  Co.,  1833  ; 
Stephen  Richardson  &  Co.,  1837 ;  B.  S.  Freeman  &  Co., 
1846  ;  F.  G.  Whitney  &  Co.,  1849  ;  H.  F.  Barrows  &  Co., 
1853.  All  these  firms  were  at  North  Attleboro.  Some  of 
the  early  firms  at  Attleboro  were  Bliss  &  Dean,  185G  ; 
Sturdy  Bros.  &  Co.,  1859;  C.  E.  Hayward  &  Co.,  W.  & 
S.  Blackinton,  Watson  &  Newell,  R.  F.  Simmons  &  Co., 
W.  H.  Wilmarth  &  Co.,  and  other  well  known  houses. 

Attleboro  was  early  also  in  the  cotton  manufacture. 
In  1801  Ebenezer  Tyler  began  the  manufacture  of  print 
cloths  at  Dodgeville,  and  this  industry  has  developed  into 
the  mammoth  Dodgeville  and  Hebron  mills  of  S.  &  B. 
Knight.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  nucleus  of  nearly 
every  existing  village  in  Attleboro  and  North  Attleboro 
was  a  cotton  factory,  and  with  one  exception  they  were 
all  started  between  1809  and  1813,  as  follows  :  The  Beaver 
Dam  mill  near  Whiting's  pond,  1809:  Fall's  factory,  1809; 
Mechanics'  factory,  1811 ;  Farmers'  factory,  1813 ;  City 
factory  at  South  Attleboro,  1813.  The  Lauesville  mill  on 
Abbott  Run  was  started  in  1826  and  the  Gold  Medal  Braid 
Company  at  Falls  Village  in  1848.  TJie  manufacture  of 
silver  ware  was  begun  by  the  Whiting  Manufacturing 
Company  in   1866.     The  first  factory  in  this  countrj^  for 


IN     I'.IJIEF    REVIEW.  18 

tlie  manufacture  of  buttons  was  built  at  what  is  known 
as  Robinsonville  in  1812.  The  tannery  of  W.  II.  Coupe 
ifc  Co.,  at  South  Attleboro,  has  done  a  flourishing  business 
since  1860. 

There  are  few  towns  more  desirable  for  residence  than 
Attleboro.  Its  schools,  its  library,  its  water  supply,  fire 
department,  many  social  organizations  and  the  high  stand- 
ard of  morality  which  the  town  has  sustained,  all  com- 
mend it  as  a  town  of  homes. 

NOTABLE   MEN. 

Four  notable  men  were  concerned  in  the  settlement 
of  these  towns.  Kev.  Samuel  Newman,  the  leader  of  the 
first  settlers,  was  born  in  Bradford,  £ng.,  in  1600,  educa- 
ted at  Oxford,  came  to  this  country  in  1634,  and  died  in 
1663.  His  greatest  work  was  his  Concordance  of  the  Bible. 
Only  a  few  copies  are  extant,  and  one  of  them  is  carefully 
treasured  in  the  British  Museum. 

Capt.  Thomas  Willett,  successor  of  Myles  Standish  as 
commander  of  the  forces  at  Plymouth,  was  largely  inter- 
ested in  settling  both  Swansea  and  Attleboro,  and  was  the 
first  mayor  of  New  York  city.  He  died  at  the  age  of  63, 
and  is  buried  near  Bullock's  cove  on  the  shore  of  Narra- 
gansett  bay. 

William  Blackstone,  a  Non-conformist  minister,  who 
was  the  first  settler  of  Boston,  was  driven  to  Rehoboth  by 
the  intolerance  of  his  Boston  neighbors,  and  established 
his  "Study  Hall,"  near  Lonsdale.  He  was  a  very  learned 
man,  a  recluse  and  philosopher. 

The  fourth  of  these  notables  was  Rev.  John  Myles, 
who  was  driven  out  of  England  because  he  refused  to  sub- 
mit  to  llie   act  of  conformity,  and  founded  the  first  Bap- 


14  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

list  church  in  Massachusetts  at  Swansea.  His  ilock  came 
from  Wales,  and  the  old  record  book  of  the  parish,  now  in 
the  possession  of  Elisha  Davis  of  Rehoboth,  has  its  earliest 
pages  written  in  the  Welsh  language. 

Among  the  notable  men  born  in  Rehoboth  have  been 
Benjamin  West,  LL.  D.,  mathematician  and  philospher  ; 
Dr.  Nathan  Smith,  professor  of  Yale,  and  founder  of  Dart- 
mouth Medical  school  ;  Abraham  Blanding,  LL.  D.,  emi- 
nent lawyer  of  South  Carolina:  ArunaS.  Abell,  founder 
of  the  Baltimore  Sun  ;  Dr.  William  Blanding,  the  natur- 
alist, founder  of  the  natural  history  collections  in  Brown 
University ;  ex-Go  v.  John  W.  Davis,  of  Rhode  Island, 
Cornelius  N.  Bliss  of  New  York  and  Chief  Justice  Mason 
of  the  Massachusetts  superior  court. 

Other  notable  Attleboro  men  have  been  Rev.  Jona- 
than Maxcy,  president  of  Brown  University  and  of  Union 
and  Columbia  Colleges  ;  Rev.  Naphtali  Daggett,  president 
of  Yale  ;  Rev.  E.  G.  Robinson,  D.  D.,  late  president  of 
Brown  University;  Hon.  David  Daggett,  chief  justice  of 
Connecticut,  and  United  States  Senator. 


EDGAR    PERRY. 


Address  of  Welconne 

BY  EIXiAR  TERRY,  ESQ. 

Tliis  is  a  family  reunion.  Kehoboth  welcomes  back 
to  the  old  homestead  to-day  her  daughter  cities  and  towns. 
We  are  all  ready  for  company.  The  parlor  blinds  are 
open,  the  sitting  room  has  been  swept  and  dusted,  the 
spare  chamber  aired.  The  choicest  fruits  of  field  and  or- 
chard have  been  reserved  for  your  entertainment,  and  the 
pantry  is  filled  with  as  many  good  things  as  ever  graced 
an  old-fashioned  Thanksgiving.  We  are  to  have  a  gen- 
eral handshaking  this  morning  ;  then  the  dinner ;  after 
that,  some  first  rate  speaking,  and  this  evening,  when  the 
old  folks  have  turned  homeward — well,  we  have  plenty  of 
music  and  one  of  the  best  prompters  in  Bristol  county.  I 
am  sure  you  will  be  glad  you  came.  But  we  might  have 
all  these,  the  music,  the  feasting,  the  oratory,  without  a 
reunion.  A  true  joining  of  hearts  and  hands  such  as  we 
have  to-day  can  only  come  from  a  feeling  of  kinship, 
consciousness  of  sympathy  and  good  will,  pride  in  a  com- 
mon liistory  and  hope  for  a  united  and  glorious  future. 

But,  in  a  broader  sense,  this  is  more  than  a  reunion, 
more  than  a  family  or  neighborhood  gathering.  Old  Re- 
hobo  th,  venerable  and  historic,  crowned  with  the  dignity 
of  the  centuries,  receives  at  her  door  the  homage  of  all 
men  who  admire  the  American  spirit  and  the  American 
ideal.  Secure  in  the  consciousness  of  noble  descent  and 
worthy  deeds,  Kehoboth  has  not  troubled  herself  greatly 
to  advertise  her  achievments.  Like  her  own  housewives, 
she  has  been  conspicuous  by  her  modesty,  her  womanl}'- 


16  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

reserve,  her  sound  common  sense.  She  has  left  it  to  lier 
children  to  rise  up  as  they  do  to-day  all  over  this  broad 
land  and  call  her  blessed. 

Rehoboth's  history  gains  to-day  in  the  presence  of  the 
high  officials  of  two  states,  a  tardy  recognition  of  its  im- 
portance. There  is  a  large  and  eminently  respectable  body 
of  Massachusetts  antiquarians  who  consider  no  ground  his- 
toric which  is  not  visible  on  a  clear  day  from  the  gilded 
dome  of  the  State  House  ;  while  their  Rhode  Island  coun- 
terparts admit  the  existence  of  but  one  patriotic  pioneer, 
their  controversial  and  enterprising  Baptist  minister. 
Some  otherwise  well  informed  people  near  the  seat  of 
Massachusetts  culture  have  recently  affected  not  to  know 
where  Rehoboth  is,  and  a  lower  order  of  intelligence  has 
stumbled  at  the  spelling  and  the  pronunciation  of  its 
scriptural  name.  This  celebration  will  fail  of  its  object  if 
it  does  not  prove  that  Rehoboth  has  soil  as  historic  as 
Lexington,  founders  as  learned  and  as  liberal  as  Roger 
Williams,  educators  as  far-seeing  as  those  at  Cambridge, 
soldiers  as  brave  as  the  men  who  fell  on  Bunker  Hill, 
statesmen  as  patriotic  as  those  who  signed  the  Declaration 
of  Independence. 

Lineage  and  circumstances  of  birth  have  much  to  do 
with  the  formation  of  character,  whether  of  individuals  or 
communities.  Rehoboth  was  born  in  an  epoch-making 
era.  It  was  a  time  of  great  beginnings,  of  radical  depart- 
ures in  thought,  of  intense  convictions.  Europe  bristled 
with  activity.  In  Prussia,  Frederick  the  Gi  eat  was  laying 
deep  and  strong  the  foundation  of  what  has  since  become  the 
German  Empire.  In  Russia,  Peter  the  Great  was  leading 
his  semi-barbarous  people  towards  civilization,  going  to 
Amsterdam  himself  to  learn  the  art  of  ship-building.     In 


ADDRESS   OF   WELCOME.  17 

France,  Louis  XIV  and  the  astute  Riclielieu  had  made 
their  country  the  most  formidable  power  in  P^urope,  while 
in  England,  the  mighty  Cromwell  was  leading  the  revolt 
of  the  people  against  Royalist  oppression  and  corruption. 

From  such  an  atmosphere  came  the  men  who  crossed 
the  seas  and  founded  Rehoboth.  In  the  ranks  of  these 
pioneers  four  figures  stand  out  in  bold  relief:  William 
Blackstone,  the  sage  and  philosopher;  Samuel  Newman, 
the  scholar  and  preacher ;  Thomas  Willett,  the  soldier 
and  statesman,  and  John  Myles,  the  reformer  and  liberal 
leader.  They  sought  a  place  to  write  anew  the  history  of 
the  world.     Their  motto  was, 

GIVE  ME  WHITE  PAPER. 

The  sheet  you  use  is  black  aiul  rough  with  smears 
Of  sweat  and  grime  and  fraud  and  blood  and  tears  ; 

Crossed  with  the  story  of  men's  sins  and  fears, 
Of  battle  and  of  famine  all  these  years. 

When  all  God's  children  have  forgot  their  birth 
And  drudged  and  fought  and  died  like  beasts  of  earth  ; 
Give  me  white  paper. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  none  of  these  seekers  for  bet- 
ter things  turned  to  Rehoboth  until  they  had  tried  some 
other  settlement.  William  Blackstone  tried  Boston  ; 
Samuel  Newman,  Weymouth  ;  Thomas  Willett,  Plymouth  ; 
John  Myles,  Hingham.  Their  roseate  expectations  of 
what  they  would  find  in  the  new  world  were  not  at  first 
realized.  They  made  the  inevitable  discovery  that  cross- 
ing the  ocean  did  not  change  human  nature  ;  that  jealousy, 
intolerance  and  self-seeking  could  live  side  by  side  with 
the  severest  orthodoxy  and  the  greatest  zeal  for  coloniza- 
tion. They  soon  turned,  however,  in  renewed  hope,  to 
the  fair  territory  that  lay  untrodden  on  the  West,  as  beau- 
tiful in  their  eyes  as  any  fabled  Eldorado.     There  their 


18  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

ideals  were  to  be  realized.  In  its  charmed  circle  all  the 
virtues  were  to  flourish  and  error  was  to  halt  abashed  at 
its  boundaries. 

In  the  organization  of  the  new  colony,  several  notable 
ideas  were  incorporated.  The  first  was  Independence. 
This  handful  of  men,  led  by  Parson  Newman,  recognized 
no  temporal  power  as  having  authority  over  them.  The 
second  idea  was  a  government  of  the  people  and  by  the 
people.  Their  compact  read,  ''We  do  covenant  and  bind 
ourselves,  one  to  another,  to  subject  ourselves  to  nine  per- 
sons and  to  assist  them  according  to  our  ability  and  estate, 
aiid  to  give  timely  notice  unto  them  of  any  such  things  as 
in  our  conscience  may  prove  dangerous  to  the  plantation, 
and  this  combination  to  continue  until  we  shall  subject 
ourselves  jointly  to  some  other  government." 

But  Rehoboth's  chief  glory  is  that  its  founders,  with 
due  credit  to  their  Oxford  and  Cambridge  training,  origi- 
nated one  institution  without  which  the  experiment  of  a 
free  government  on  this  continent  must  have  proved  a  fail- 
ure. It  was  nothing  less  than  the  free  public  school ;  the 
idea  of  free,  universal,  compulsor}'  education,  maintained 
by  the  taxation  of  all  citizens. 

The  last  legislature  voted  to  build  a  monument  on  the 
site  of  the  first  free  public  school.  As  at  present  advised, 
we  certainly  believe  that  it  should  be  erected  here.  There 
is  to  be  a  hearing  on  the  matter  before  the  governor's  Coun- 
cil to-morrow,  and  we  understand  that  one  of  the  wards  of 
the  city  of  Boston,  in  whose  interests  no  doubt  the  act  was 
drawn,  will  appear  and  bid  for  the  coveted  prize.  Reho- 
both's  claim  is  based  on  the  finding  of  the  learned  men  who 
compiled  the  Digest  of  the  Statutes  of  Massachusetts,  is- 
sued no  longer  ago  than  1892.     The  passage  reads  : — 


ADDRESS    OF    WELCOME.  19 

"The  act  of  1647  made  the  support  of  public  scliools 
compulsory  and  education  universal  and  free.  As  this 
was  the  first  law  of  the  kind  ever  passed  by  any  communi- 
ty of  persons  or  by  any  state,  Massachusetts  may  claim  the 
honor   of  having  originated  the  free  public  school." 

If  the  compilers  of  this  Digest  were  right,  as  they  un- 
doubtedly were,  in  ignoring  Dorchester's  cLaim  of  1638 
when  they  set  the  date  of  the  first  free  public  school  at 
1647,  then  the  claim  of  Rehoboth  for  Dec.  10th,  1643  is 
good,for  the  Rehoboth  measure  went  even  farther  than  the 
act  of  1647  and  was  four  years  earlier.  It  provided  for  the 
taxation  of  all  citizens  for  the  support  of  the  school  master 
whether  they  had  children  to  educate  or  not,  while  under 
the  Act  of  1647,  taxation  for  schools  could,  by  vote,  be 
limited  to  parents  and  guardians.  The  Rehoboth  vote  es- 
tablished a  school  which  met  all  the  essentials  of  public 
instruction  as  we  understand  it  to-day,  and  doubtless  the 
claim  of  Dorchester  was  passed  by  because  the  authors 
of  the  Digest  detected  in  its  plan  the  lack  of  some  neces- 
sary feature.  I  doubt  whether  Parson  Newman  realized 
the  full  significance  of  his  discovery,  any  more  than  did  Co- 
lumbus. And,  yet,  I  think  there  must  have  been  a  strange 
glow  in  his  heart,  a  thrill  of  prophetic  fervor  in  his  voice 
that  chill  winter's  night,  as  he  stretched  out  his  hands  in 
benediction  over  the  bowed  heads  of  the  discoverers  of  the 
free  public  school. 

Rehoboth  holds  as  distinguished  a  relation  to  the  an- 
nals of  Indian  warfare  as  Plymouth  to  the  inception  of  the 
colonies,  or  Lexington  to  the  Revolutionary  struggle.  It 
was  the  frontier  town  during  King  Philip's  war.  The 
first  blood  of  a  contest  which  menaced  not  alone  the  very 
life  but  the  liberty  of  the  colonies  was  shed  in  its  original 
boundaries,  while  within  its  present  limits  the  last  trium- 


20  250th  anniversary  of   rehoboth. 

pliant  strategy  of  that  struggle  was  consummated.  If  to 
stand  on  the  confines  of  savage  territory  and  defend  the 
hearths  and  homes  that  lie  behind  be  patriotism,  Myles 
Bridge  is  as  truly  historic  ground  as  Lexington  Common. 

It  is  not  strange,  in  view  of  Rehoboth's  progressive 
spirit  and  conspicuous  services,  its  promising  territory  and 
fine  frontage  on  Narragansett  Bay,  that  it  should  have 
been  selected  in  1706  as  the  place  for  holding  a  Conti- 
nental Congress.  When  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts 
Bay  Colonies  united  to  form  the  state,  moreover,  Rehoboth 
became  Boston's  most  formidable  rival  as  the  capital  and 
missed  the  honor  by  less  than  one  hundred  votes  in  a 
total  of  nearly  four  thousand. 

Attleboro,  worthy  daughter  of  Rehoboth,  has  two 
special  claims  to  distinction  which  I  have  no  doubt  will  be 
ably  exploited  at  their  200th  celebration  on  the  18th  and 
19th  of  this  month.  They  need  only  be  mentioned  here. 
One  was  when  Col.  Daggett  and  his  command  bore  arms 
gainst  the  King  of  England  a  week  before  the  embattled 
farmers  at  Concord  fired  the  shot,  heard  round  the  world. 
The  Attleboro  company  only  missed  opening  the  revolu- 
tionary struggle,  because,  in  their  Assonet  Expedition, 
April  9,  1775,  they  captured  the  enemy  without  a  blow. 
If  some  Tory  had  only  had  spunk  enough  to  fight,  the 
war  would  have  begun  then  and  there. 

As  another  distinction,  Attleboro  has  the  honor  of  an- 
ticipating the  spirit  and  almost  the  words  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  two  months  before  that  document 
was  signed.  They  sent  this  remarkable  message  to  tlieir 
representative  in  Congress :  "If  the  Continental  Congress 
shall  think  best  to  declare  for  independence  of  Great  Brit- 


ADDRESS    OF    WELCOME.  21 

ain,  we   unanimously  desire  you  for  us  to  engage  to  defend 
them  therein  with  our  lives  and  our  fortunes." 

We  are  here  to  tell  the  story  of  250  years.  I  have 
oidy  outlined  a  few  main  features  of  the  picture.  It  re- 
mains for  the  representatives  of  the  visiting  cities  and 
towns  to  fill  in  the  details ;  for  the  orator  and  other  dis- 
tinguished speakers  to  give  it  the  light  and  shade  ;  for  the 
poet  to  add  a  dash  of  color. 

It  merely  devolves  upon  me  now  to  welcome  you  in 
behalf  of  the  anniversary  committee,  the  Rehoboth  Anti- 
quarian Society  and  the  old  mother  town.  Your  presence 
in  such  numbers  is  all  the  more  appreciated  because  it  has 
not  been  easy  for  you  to  get  here.  Rehoboth  jealously 
guards  the  rare  distinction  of  being  one  of  the  few  towns 
in  the  State  where  the  discordant  shriek  of  the  locomotive 
is  never  heard.  She,  at  least,  gains  this  assurance  by  her 
isolation,  that  those  who  visit  her  are  inspired  to  do  so  by 
genuine  affection. 

She  extends  her  hands  in  greeting  to  her  mother, 
Weymouth,  and  her  eight  matronly  daughters,  each  "motli- 
er  of  a  mighty  race,  yet  lovely  in  her  youthful  grace." 
Swansea  is  here,  bringing  with  her  the  breath  of  the  sea  ; 
Attleboro  and  North  Attleboro  with  differences  forgotton, 
sit  side  by  side,  twin  jewels  of  the  family  circle  ;  Seekonk, 
like  a  modern  Ceres,  bears  in  her  hands  the  wealth  of  her 
harvests  ;  while  across  the  imaginary  boundary  line  that 
divides  Rhode  Island  from  the  Massachusetts  sisters, 
Cumberland  forsakes  her  spindles  and  looms,  Pawtucket 
closes  her  factories  and  stores.  East  Providence  and  Bar- 
rington  leave  their  homes  and  gardens,  and  a  smiling,  pros" 
perous  quartette,  they  greet  the  venerable  mother  town  on 
hei-  250th  birthday. 


22  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

We  welcome  them  and  you  to  our  homes  and  our 
hearts,  to  our  fields  rich  with  harvests,  to  our  woods  decked 
out  in  the  prismatic  hues  of  autumn.  No  military  com- 
pany turned  out  to  greet  you  because  we  do  not  beleive  in 
keeping  up  a  gilded  fiction  of  war  in  time  of  peace.  Our 
courts  have  not  adjourned,  because  the  fair  Portias  Avho 
rule  the  only  kind  of  court  we  ever  find  necessary  here 
always  have  an  especially  heavy  docket  on  250th  anniver- 
saries. In  our  reception  committee  glisten  no  official  in- 
signia of  Worshipful  masters,  Noble  Grands,  or  Grand 
Sachems,  yet  it  is  but  fair  to  the  town  to  say  that  we  once 
had  a  very  Independent  Order  of  Red  Men  here,  a  thriv- 
ing Lodge  of  ver^r  free  and  very  acceptable  Masons,  found- 
ed by  one  Sampson  Mason,  while  as  for  Odd  Fellows,  un- 
prejudiced outsiders  find  even  more  of  them  in  town  than 
we  do. 

We  trust  many  of  you  will  be  so  well  pleased  with  us, 
despite  the  lack  of  some  of  these  modern  functions,  that 
you  will  decide  to  buy  back  the  farms  which  your  ances- 
tors tilled  for  so  many  years  and  make  your  homes  here. 
By  that  we  do  not  necessarily  mean  that  you  should  give 
up  your  regular  business  and  live  here  all  the  year  around, 
but  register  here,  vote  here,  and  spend  the  six  pleasantest 
months  in  our  matchless  climate.  Why  go  to  the  moun- 
tains and  seashore  for  country  air  wlien  we  oiTer  every 
advantage  without  the  annoyance  of  long  journeys  in  the 
stifling  atmosphere  of  railway  trains  ?  If  your  response  to 
our  invitation  is  general  and  you  show  a  worthy  pride  in 
the  amount  of  your  personal  property  when  talking  with 
our  assessors,  we  can  nt  least  assure  you  a  very  attractive 
tax  rate. 

We  regret  that  we  cannot,  however,  hold  out  such 
political  inducements  as  were  possible  when  Rehoboth  sent 


ADimESS    OF    WELCOME.  28 

seven  representatives  to  the  general  court  every  year. 
Now  it  is  one  every  four  years.  We  should  wish  to  re- 
serve that  office  to  ourselves  and  make  20  years  residence 
in  the  town  a  prerequisite  for  the  lionor.  You  can  have 
everything  but  that.  An  option  on  our  choicest  corner 
lots  is  yours.  You  can  select  your  own  sites  on  our  pictu- 
resque hillsides,  while  plenty  of  good  farms  can  be  had  at 
prices  that  will  lay  the  foundation  for  a  fortune.  We  want 
you :  we  want  your  historic  names  restored  to  our  voting 
list,  and  in  return  we  guarantee  good  schools,  good  roads, 
religious  harmony,  the  best  of  good  fellowship,  and  a  wel- 
come that  will  warm  your  hearts. 

This  celebration  will  be  futile  indeed,  if  it  does  not 
inspire  us,  the  residents  of  the  cities  and  towns  that  have 
grown  up  on  the  fair  territory  of  old  Rehoboth,  with  a 
lofty  determinatioii  to  realize  more  perfectly  the  noble 
ideals  of  its  patriotic  founders.  I  fear  that  if  those  wor- 
thies were  to  return  to-day,  they  might  have  some  pointed 
suggestions  to  offer  ;  and  yet  with  the  larger  knowledge, 
the  wider  charity  of  another  world,  I  cannot  but  think 
their  judgments  would  be  tempered  with  mercy.  Let  the 
artificial  municipal  boundaries  which  man's  convenience 
has  invented  be  swept  aside,  and  when  great  moral,  eco- 
nomic and  social  questions  are  to  be  met,  may  the  Rehoboth 
household  stand  together  as  firm  in  moral  purpose  and  pa- 
triotic devotion  as  ever  their  forefathers  were.  ''  To  our 
fidelity,"  in  the  words  of  the  immortal  Burke,  ''  Let  us  at- 
test the  retiring  generations  ;  let  us  attest  the  advancing 
generations,  between  which  as  a  link  in  the  great  chain 
of  eternal  order  we  stand." 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  sons  and  daughters  of  Old 
Rehoboth,  it  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  introduce  to  you 
as  the  presiding  officer  of  this  occasion  and  its  toastmaster 


24 


250th  anniversary  of  behoboth, 


a  gentleman  well-known  within  and  beyond  the  bounda- 
ries of  our  mother  town,  and  whose  birthplace  was  within 
the  jurisdiction  originally  ours.  I  present  to  you,  the 
Honorable  Thomas  W.  Bicknell,  of  Harrington  and  Provi- 
dence, R.  I. 


KECOCJNITION    OF    TOWNS.  25 


Recognition  of  Visiting  Towns  and  Cities, 
Mainly  Daughters  of  Ancient  Rehoboth. 

Addf'ess  by  Hon,  Thomas  W.  Bicknell,  who  presided  over  the 
forenoon  exercises  and  also  acted  as  Toast-Master. 

It  is  at  once  an  honor  and  a  pleasure  to  be  the 
medium  of  address  between  this  venerable  mother  town, 
Rehoboth,  two  and  one  half  centuries  old,  and  her  chil- 
dren, grand  children,  and  visiting  guests.  While  formal 
introduction  would  eool  the  ardor  of  the  home  greeting, 
it  is  quite  proper  that  one  ''  to  the  manner  born  "  should 
attempt  the  word  of  cordial  introduction,  and  present  to 
the  gracious  mother,  by  some  fitting  thought,  her  children 
and  guests  at  this  memorable  and  auspicious  meeting. 

Two  kingdoms  and  two  kings  claimed  the  territory 
we  now  occupy,  when  in  1644,  Rev.  Samuel  Newman 
and  his  little  company  left  old  Weymouth  near  the  sea, 
for  this  frontier  of  immigration,  the  Great  West  of  that 
early  day.  Britain  with  Charles  the  First  as  its  crowned 
head,  held  general  title,  while  Massasoit  and  the  tribe  of 
the  Wampanoags,  of  which  he  was  the  Chief  Sachem, 
were  tlie  owners  and  occupants  of  the  territory,  called  by 
the  Indians,  Pokanoket,  Seekonk  and  Wannamoisett. 
Town  rights  were  obtained  by  purchase  and  deed  from 
the  Great  Sachem,  and  on  account  of  the  marvellous 
room  for  settlement,  Mr.  Newman,  in  reverence  for  Bible 
authority   called   the    place    "Rehoboth."     To    the    first 


26  250th  anniveesaey  of  rehoboth. 

purchase  of  eight  miles  square  was  added  iu  1661,  what 
was  known  as  the  Rehoboth  Nortli  Purchase  by  deed 
from  Alexander,  brother  of  Philip  and  son  of  Massasoit, 


Rehoboth,  the  mother  town,  has  of  her  great  abun- 
dance and  with  generous  spirit  endowed  daughter  towns, 
;so  that  her  own  possessions,  population  and  wealth,  have 
in  large  measure  gone  to  these  prosperous  municipalities. 
Swansea  on  the  South,  held  of  Rehoboth  by  police  title, 
was  the  first  to  separate  from  the  mother  town  in  1667. 
In  1694,  Attleboro  on  the  North,  also  held  by  police 
tenure,  took  leave  of  the  mother  town  for  an  independent 
life.  In  1717,  "  the  Westward  end  of  Swansea "  was 
erected  into  a  town,  on  account  of  religious  concerns,  and 
called  Barrington,  the  first  grand  child  of  old  Rehoboth. 
In  1746-7,  Attleboro  Gore,  the  home  of  William  Black- 
stone,  on  the  Blackstone  River,  parted  from  Attleboro  to 
enter  upon  a  corporate  being  as  Cumberland.  Seekonk, 
in  1812,  for  political  reasons,  divided  equally  with  the 
mother  town  her  territorial  possessions.  Pawtucket  for 
economic  purposes  was  set  off  from  Seekonk  in  1828,  and 
East  Providence  became  an  independent  township  in 
1862,  for  political,  social,  economic  and  religious  reasons 
combined.  The  latest  and  youngest  of  the  grand  chil- 
dren of  our  mother  is  North  Attleboro,  which  set  up 
house-keeping  in  1887.  Nine  towns  and  cities  possess  the 
territory  of  Old  Rehoboth,  within  the  states  of  Massachu- 
setts and  Rhode  Island,  three  of  which  may  be  styled 
children  of  the  first,  and  five,  children  of  the  second 
descent.  These  have  increased,  but  the  mother  town  has 
decreased.  Her  pride  in  her  offspring  and  her  interest  in 
their  growth  and  prosperity  have  made  her  self-forgetful 
of  her   own    narrowed   limits    and    resources.     She   had 


RECOGNITION    OF   TOWNS.  27 

rather    be    the    mother   of  the    Gracclii    tlian    a  desohite 
Racliel,  without  hope  or  progeny. 

On  the  area  purchased  and  settled  by  Willett,  New- 
man, Myles,  Brown  and  their  associates  in  1644  and  16G1, 
dwells  in  11,000  busy  homes,  a  prosperous  population  of 
50,000  people  in  as  many  as  fifty  cities,  towns  and  hamlets. 
Education  has  planted  schools  of  all  grades  from  the 
Kindergarten  to  the  College,  in  which  every  child  may 
receive  free  school  training,preparatory  for  the  University, 
at  the  expense  of  the  State.  Religion  ministers  its 
living  grace,  instruction  and  consolations  to  the  people 
through  fifty  organized  churches  and  Sunday  Schools, 
with  as  many  ordained  ministers  and  teachers  of  various 
faiths. 

The  appraised  wealth  of  the  nine  towns  is 

estimated   at  '!550,000,00O 

The  real  wealth  is  probably  75,000,000 

With  a  per  capita  wealth  of  1,500 

Agriculture  and  the  manufacture  of  cotton  and  woolen 
goods,  jewelry,  and  implements  and  products  of  wood 
and  iron  employ  the  well  protected  capital  and  labor  of 
thousands  of  people.  Steam  and  electricity  have  been 
active  agents  in  developing  the  industries  of  the  people, 
but  the  slumbers  of  the  citizens  of  the  parent  town  liave 
never  been  disturbed  by  either.  Goldsmith's  "Sweet 
Auburn  "  has  been  her  type  of  character  and  progress. 
The  rural  and  suburban  life  of  these  municipalities  lias 
illustrated  in  most  complete  fashion  the  virtues  of  the 
founders. 

To  the  brief  stories  of  these  daughter  towns  througli 
their  chosen  representatives  we  will  now  address  ourselves. 


28  250th  anniversary  of   rehoboth. 

Weyrr[Oiltln,  1635  : 

A  liberal  town  in  a  liberal  colony  sent  a  liberal  com- 
pany, of  her  abundance,  to  level  the  wilderness,  break  the 
virgin  soil,  subdue  wild  beasts  and  more  savage  men,  and 
sow  good  seed  beside  strange  waters.  The  mother  town 
by  the  sea  comes  to  visit  her  once  Western  frontier  and 
may  exclaim  as  she  sees  the  growth  and  progress  of  two 
and  one  half  centuries,  "What  hath  God  wrought"  through 
these  brethren  of  that  day  of  grace  and  greatness. 

Response  by  Bradfokd  Hawes,  Esq,,  of  Weymouth, 

Mass. 

Mr.  President^  Ladies  and  Q-entlemen : 

It  gives  me  sincere  pleasure  to  bring  to  you  the  con- 
gratulations of  Weymouth  on  this  the  two  hundred  and 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  Rehoboth,  and  to  add  what  I  can 
to  the  rejoicing  of  this  pleasant  occasion. 

I  have  been  introduced  to  you  as  the  representative 
of  the  mother  town.  I  might  be  inclinjgd  myself  to  re- 
gard the  relationship  between  Weymouth  and  Rehoboth, 
in  view  of  the  comparatively  brief  difference  in  their 
ages,  as  that  of  sisters ;  but  I  will  not  as  a  loyal  son  of 
old  Weymouth,  relinquish  for  her  the  honor  of  giving 
birth  to  so  comely  and  vigorous  a  daughter.  I  find  at  the 
head  of  my  toast,  Weymouth,  1635.  This  was  indeed 
the  year  of  her  incorporation  under  her  present  name,  but 
as  the  plantation  of  Wessagussett  her  age  dates  back  to 
within  two  years  of  the  time  when  the  Pilgrims  landed 
at  Plymouth,  so  we  see  that  when  she  became  the 
mother  of  Rehoboth  she  was  not  so  very  young  as  would 
appear  but  was  already  verging  on  toward  a  matronly 
age.     The  first  settlers  who   came  to  Weymouth  were  a 


KECOGNITION    OF   TOWNS.  29 

colony  of  adventurers  consisting  of  sixty  men,  gathered 
from  the  streets  of  London  and  sent  out  by  Thomas 
Weston  in  1622. 

The  life  of  hardship  and  privation  to  which  they 
were  unaccustomed  told  heavily  upon  them,  and  many  of 
them  died  during  the  first  winter;  the  remainder  became 
discouraged  and  returned  the  following  summer  to  Eng- 
land; but  the  tide  was  setting  westward  and  in  1693 
Robert  Gorges  came  with  a  company  of  settlers,  many  of 
them  being  men  with  families,  but  their  experience  was 
much  like  that  of  the  first  comers  and  at  the  end  of  the 
year  saw  many  of  them  scattered  or  returned  to  England. 

No  element  of  stability  actuated  the  first  comers  to 
Weymouth,  unlike  the  Pilgrims  at  the  south  or  the 
Puritans  at  the  north  of  them  ;  no  great  religious  or  politi- 
cal principle  bound  them  together  and  they  left  no  per- 
manent impression  on  the  life  of  the  new  colony. 

Weymouth  was  never  proud  of  her  first  settlers,  but 
would  not  at  this  late  day  judge  them  harshly;  they 
probably  compared  favorably  wdth  the  generality  of  fron- 
tier settlers ;  at  any  rate  they  were  pioneers  for  a  better 
element,  which,  from  this  time,  continued  to  build  up 
slowly  but  surely  the  foundations  of  the  young  colony, 
until  the  coming  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Hull  in  1635  with 
a  company  of  twenty-one  families,  or  about  one  hun- 
dred souls,  (the  largest  number  recorded  as  ever  coming 
to  the  town  in  any  one  year),  gave  an  element  of  per- 
manence and  prosperity  to  the  new  town  now  incorporated 
which  it  had  not  before  attained.  , 

When  in  1644  Rev.  Samuel  Newman  left  Weymouth 
with   his  company  the  population   of   the   town  had   in- 


30  250th  anxtversary  of  rehoboth. 

creased  to  nine  hundred  souls.  He  had  been  called  some 
four  years  before  to  heal  a  breach  which  had  arisen  in  the 
church,  and  appears  to  have  been  at  the  time  successful ; 
but  whether  some  new  difficulty,  born  of  the  diverse  re- 
ligious elements  of  the  time  had  arisen,  or  whatever  the 
cause,  the  imperfect  records  existing  do  not  enable  us  to 
determine,  but  certain  it  is  that  he  left  Weymouth  with 
forty  families  or  about  two  hundred  persons.  We  may 
pause  here  to  enquire,  in  what  consisted  the  liberality 
of  the  mother  town  ?  Not  in  worldly  goods,  of  these  slie 
had  but  little  to  bestow  upon  her  daughter.  Nor  yet  in, 
her  ideas,  although  these,  owing  to  the  more  varied  ele- 
ments of  her  population,  were  not  perhaps  run  so  much  in 
one  groove  as  were  those  of  her  neighbors  to  the  north  or 
south.  I  deem  that  her  liberality  consisted  rather  in  the 
giving  of  her  men  and  of  her  women,  even  to  one-fourth 
of  all  she  had  to  the  founding  of  the  infant  colony ;  and 
certainly  on  this  line  Weymouth  has  never  ceased  to  be 
liberal;  with  the  ever  widening  and  advancing  line  of  our 
frontier,  her  sons  and  daughters  have  been  freely  given  to 
help  in  peopling  the  land,  until  in  every  state,  and  I  had 
almost  said  in  every  city  and  town  the  men  from  Wey- 
mouth or  their  descendants  are  to  be  found. 

''  This  liberal  company  then  from  a  liberal  town  came 
to  level  the  wilderness,  subdue  wild  beasts  and  more 
savage  men,  to  break  the  soil  and  to  sow  good  seed  beside 
strange  waters." 

As  I  came  down  this  pleasant  October  morning  I 
tried  to  picture  to  myself  the  wilderness  through  which 
they  toiled,  to  cover  the  hills  and  the  plains  over  which 
they  passed  with  the  primeval  forest  where  danger  larked 
at  every  step. 


RECOGNITION    OF    TOWNS.  31 

The  liills  and  the  plains  are  there  to-day,  but  wliere 
then  was  a  forest  wilderness,  to-day  stand  ])usy  cities  and 
thriving  towns,  with  the  intervening  landscape  covered 
with  fruitful  farms,  the  abodes  of  peace  and  plenty,  with 
the  church  and  the  school-house,  the  twin  factors  in  our 
Nation's  progress,  within  reach  of  all  whether  rich  or  poor. 

They  did  well  their  work.  That  they  sowed  good 
seed  the  harvest  which  you  to-day  reap  abundantly  testi- 
iies ;  'these  thriving  towns,  these  happy  homes,  these 
fertile  fields,  the  industrial,  political  and  religious  insti- 
tutions which  bring  to  us  daily  benefits  are  not  the  fruits 
of  vice  or  sloth  or  carelessness. 

But  let  us  not  in  our  rejoicing  forget  the  great  lesson 
of  the  hour.  It  is  not  ours  alone  to  gather  the  fruits  of 
their  toils,  but  ours  also  to  transmit  unimpaired  and  ever 
increasing  to  our  posterity  the  blessings  which  their  wis- 
dom and  piety,  their  valor  and  industry  gave  to  us. 

''The  mother  town  may  well  exclaim  as  she  visits  her 
once  western  frontier  and  sees  the  progress  of  two  and 
one-half  centuries,  wha  thath  God  wrought?"  but  if  it  be 
put  as  a  question  who  shall  answer  it  ? 

The  results  of  their  toils  and  suffering  we  cannot  see 
in  their  fullness,  they  are  world-wide,  and  shall  reach 
through  time. 

If  we  are  faithful  to  our  trust,  these  evidences  which 
we  see  to-day  may  well  be  but  tokens  of  the  greater  har- 
vest which  the  coming  years  hold  in  store. 

You  cannot  answer,  I  cannot  answer,  only  He  who 
knows  the  end  from  the  beginning,  and  to  Whom  the 
future  is  an  open  book, — only  He  can  tell  what  He  hath 


82  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

wrought    "through    the    men   of  that  day   of  grace  and 
greatness." 

Swansea,  1667  ; 

The  home  of  Rev.  John  Myles  and  the  first  Baptist 
Church  in  Massachusetts.  Her  founders,  through  perse- 
cution, illustrated  and  advanced  the  great  principles  of 
religious  freedom  and  toleration. 

Response  by  Edward  M.  Thurston,  Esq.,  of  Swansea, 

Mass. 

Mr.  Chairmayi^  Ladies  aad  Gentlemen  : 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  respond  for  the  town  of  Swansea. 

Prose  and  Poem  have  vied  with  each  other  through- 
out this  Commonw^ealth  in  describing  the  sterling  qualities, 
profound  convictions  and  strong  courage  of  the  defenders 
of  the  principles  held  by  the  Rev.  John  Myles,  of  Swan- 
sea, Wales,  as  carried  out  and  embodied  in  a  church  cov- 
enant in  New  Swansea,  New  England.  There  was  not 
'' room "  enough  in  the  great  township  of  Rehoboth  for 
the  Newman  Congregational  church,  and  the  seven  men 
who  held  to  what  was  then  called  heretical  doctrine, 
believed  by  Rev.  John  Myles  and  the  six  layman,  who, 
when  driven  from  your  territor}^,  were  incorporated  into  a 
church.  They  located  on  a  strip  of  land  now  known 
as  New  Meadow  Neck,  but  so  far  from  the  church  in 
Seekonk,  that  although  within  the  borders  of  the  town- 
ship of  Rehoboth  at  that  time,  distance  would  give  the 
old  church  peace.  But  soon  men  of  equal  courage  united 
with  the  bold  pastor,  and  were  given  a  grant  of  land  by 
the  Plymouth  colony  for  a  new  town  which  they  named 
Swansea,  for  the  Swansea  in  Wales,  from  which  the  pas- 
tor and  some  of  the  settlers  had  been  driven.     We  can 


ELISHA    DAVIS. 


RECOGNITION    OF    TOWNS.  33 

find  no  reason  in  history  why  this  beautiful  name  of 
Swansea  should  have  been  so  corrupted  by  misspelling  as 
it  has  been,  thus  changing  the  pronunciation.  Tlie  cor- 
rect way  to  spell  tlie  word  is  S-w-a-n-s-e-a,  as  it  is  spelled 
in  Wales,  from  which  our  town  was  named. 

I  am  of  the  opinion  that  Kehoboth  feared  the  tenets 
held  by  Myles,  and  his  followers  had  tainted  the  ground 
on  which  they  located,  for  they  were  willing  to  allow  that 
part  of  Rehoboth  to  be  taken  by  the  new  town  of  Swan- 
sea. And  so  we  are  here  to-day  as  a  daughter  of  Re- 
hoboth. It  now  seems  harsh  and  almost  cruel  that  those 
men  should  have  been  driven  from  your  borders,  and  not 
only  driven  away  but  fined  £b  each  and  forbidden  to  wor- 
ship for  a  month.  They  must  have  had  the  grace  of  God 
in  their  hearts  to  bear  such  sentences,  but  they  did  bear 
them,  and  when  requested  to  move  on,  move  on  they 
did.  But  we  can  now  thank  you  and  our  Heavenly 
Father  that  that  which  was  intended  for  their  correction 
and  to  their  hurt  was  overruled  by  Him  whose  they  were, 
to  the  good  of  all  succeeding  generations.  Rev.  John 
Myles  had  for  years  battled  against  the  civil  government 
controlling  the  church,  and  with  that  courage  of  which 
martyrs  are  made,  he  came  to  this,  our  New  England,  and 
true  to  his  convictions  he  continued  the  battle,  at  times 
against  him,  but  in  the  end  he  conquered,  and  the  First 
Baptist  church  of  Swansea  is  recognized  in  history  as  the 
first  church  in  the  Commonwealth  to  make  a  covenant 
that  should  speak  clearly  and  plainly  that  the  church  was 
for  the  spiritual  and  heavenly  work,  and  the  town  for  the 
civil  and  earthly  part.  And  on  our  soil  we  received 
what  you  rejected,  and  there  was  planted  the  "  handful  of 
corn  in  the  earth  on  the  top  of  the  mountain  ;  the  fruit 
thereof  shall  shake  like  Lebanon." 


34  250th   AIs^NIVERSARY   OF   REHOBOTH. 

This  first  church  has  passed  through  many  trials  and 
dark  days,  but  for  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  the 
gospel  of  peace  and  good-will  to  men  has  been  sounding 
in  no  uncertain  strain  from  its  midst.  Religious  toleration 
obtained  a  strong  foothold  and  Swansea  soon  became  to 
be  regarded  as  the  safe  place  for  refuge  for  all  those  who 
would  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their 
conscience.  And  while  this  denomination,  or  sect,  as  it 
was  then  called,  continued  to  suffer  persecution  they 
continued  to  increase  in  numbers,  and  with  the  growing 
interest  in  and  prosperity  of  Roger  Williams  beyond  the 
Seekonk,  they  soon  found  that  rest  and  peace  which  they 
desired,  for,  by  1766,  Pastor  Newman  having  died,  this 
same  persecuted,  fined,  banished  Rev.  John  Myles  was 
called  to  preach  in  the  same  church  by  which  he  had  been 
exiled.  So  "  God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way  His  won- 
ders to  perform." 

What  more  can  I  say?  The  town  of  Swansea  is  now 
content.  Her  churches  are  as  a  light  on  a  hill ;  they  give 
no  uncertain  sound.  And  to  this  day,  so  strongly  have 
the  doctrines  of  the  Baptist  denomination  been  imbibed 
by  its  inhabitants  that  we  are  still  a  Baptist  town,  and 
with  but  one  or  two  exceptions,  no  other  denomination 
has  gained  a  foothold.  We  believe  that  we  have  entered 
into  the  reward  of  those  who  labored,  were  persecuted 
and  banished.  And  now  in  our  peaceful  homes,  sur- 
rounded by  well-managed  and  productive  farms  with  a 
deep  interest  in  our  common  schools,  and  with  a  constant 
improvement  of  our  highways,  we  come  to  you  on  this, 
your  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary,  and  thank  you 
that  you  gave  us  such  men  for  our  first  settlers  ;  and  we 
would  say,  that  what  you  considered  a  punishment  for 
heretical  doctrine,  has  proved  a  rich  reward  to  those  who 


RECOdNlTlON    OF    TOWNS.  1^5 

have  followed  in  the  belief,  and  practised  the  virtues  of 
those  wliom  you  banished  from  your  territory.  We  con- 
gratulate you  on  youi' prosperity  ;  and  our  desire  is,  that 
we  may  in  all  our  councils,  liave  that  charity  for  each 
other  which  has  been  ours  for  the  generations  past ;  and 
the  same  kindly  spirit,  rejoicing  in  each  other's  prosperity 
and  sorrowing  in  each  other's  adversity;  and  that  we 
may  leave  to  those  now  pressing  to  the  front,  as  rich  an 
heritage  in  a  church  believing  in  the  fullest  toleration, 
but  firm  on  the  great  truths  of  the  word  of  God. 

Allow  me  in  closing,  to  quote  from  a  memorable 
address,  given  by  the  chairman  of  the  day,  before  the 
Bostonian  Society,  Boston,  in  1882  : 

''  We  have  good  reason  to  hold  John  Myles  in  memory 
as  the  founder  of  the  first  free  Baptist  church  in  the  Com- 
monwealth of  Massachusetts ;  as  the  co-founder  with 
Capt.  Thomas  Willett  of  a  town  after  the  Baptist  order, 
the  first  and  the  only  one  in  the  Commonwealth  of  the 
early  founding,  and  of  the  declaration  on  Massachusetts' 
soil,  and  the  practical  application  of  the  principles  of  a 
true  Christian  society.  In  essentials,  unity;  in  non-essen- 
tials, liberty;  in  all  things,  charity." 

Barrington,  1717 ; 

Child  of  Swansea,  and  grand-child  of  Rehoboth, — 
guardian  of  the  graves  of  the  Wampanoags,  and  heir  to 
the  clam-banks  and  fisheries  of  Massasoit.  With  John 
Myles  as  her  pastor  and  teacher,  Myles  Standish  as  a  pro- 
prietor, Samuel  Willett  and  John  Brown  as  residents  in 
herown  Wannamoisett,  and  Weymouth  as  her  great-grand- 
mother, what  better  lineage  and  possession  could  she 
desire  ? 


36  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

Response  by  Fred.  P.  Church,  Esq.,  of  Barrington, 

R.  I. 

Mr.  President^  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

Barrington  the  grandchild,  the  beautiful  maiden  of 
177  years,  sends  her  cordial,  loving  greeting  to  her  hale 
and  hearty  grandmother,  on  this  her  two  hundred  and 
fiftieth  birthday. 

A  child  of  Swansea,  born  when  she  was  a  blushing 
maid  of  fifty,  and  therefore  a  grandchild  of  dear  old  Re- 
hoboth, who  at  her  birth  was  still  a  comely  matron  of 
seventy-three,  and  a  great-grandchild  of  historic  old 
Weymouth. 

From  1745  to  1770  Barrington  dwelt  with  her  twin 
sister  Warren,  but  at  that  date  set  up  for  herself  an  in- 
dependent household  on  the  other  side  of  the  river, 
"  guardian  of  the  dust "  of  that  strong  and  faithful  ally 
of  the  Pilgrims,  the  Wampanoags,  whose  friendship  won 
by  fair  dealing  and  firmness,  proved  a  very  wall  of  defence 
to  that  weak,  struggling  band  for  over  fifty  years. 

Heir  of  the  sources  of  the  material  wealth  of  old 
Massasoit,  the  fisheries  and  clambanks,  which  banks  are 
still  a  perennial  source  of  dividends,  whose  continuity  no 
hard  times  can  break,  and  no  panics  disturb,  and  the  en- 
joyment of  which  is  not  exclusive,  for  we  have  no  monoply 
but  share  the  dividends  willingly  and  freely  with  our 
neighbors,  as  many  a  family  church  and  town  reunion 
abundantly  proves. 

Linked  to  the  Mayflower,  the  rich  and  beloved  old 
Plymouth,  by  that  brave,  fearless,  indomitable  soldier, 
Capt.  Myles  Standish,  whose  day-dreams  and  night 
visions  (if  we  are  to   believe  tradition),  were    of  landed 


TlECOGNITION    OF   TOWNS.  37 

estates,  and  a  noble  title  over  the  sea,  and  who  in  part  at 
least  realized  those  dreams  when  he  became  a  proprietor 
in  our  fertile  meadows  near  Nayatt. 

Kept  in  constant  touch  with  that  noble  band  of  self- 
denying,  self-sacrificing  men  and  women,  for  the  principle 
of  freedom  in  civil  and  religious  affairs,  by  such  men  as 
Capt.  Thomas  Willet  and  Mr.  John  Brown.  The  former 
a  soldier  of  no  mean  parts,  a  man  of  great  executive 
ability,  a  born  diplomat,  the  first  and  twice  mayor  of  New 
York  city,  he  filled  the  varied  positions  to  which  he  was 
called  with  talent,  energy  and  intelligence.  The  latter 
not  so  famous  outside  the  town  and  colony,  was  identified 
with  all  the  higher  interests  of  our  people.  A  large- 
hearted  generous  Christian  man,  ready  to  assume  the 
larger  end  of  every  burden,  he  exemplified  the  value  of 
true  fellowship  and  active  faith,  and  in  serenity  and  much 
comfort  fell  asleep  in  the  Lord,  and  was  buried  in  Wan- 
namoisett.  John  Myles,  pastor,  teacher,and  citizen, broad 
minded,  far  seeing,  far  in  advance  of  his  day  and  genera- 
tion in  the  scope  and  liberality  of  his  faith,  warm  hearted, 
tolerant  of  all,  loving  wisdom  and  knowledge  for  their 
intrinsic  worth,  he  gave  of  his  rich  treasures  of  wisdom 
and  experience  freely  and  constantly  to  elevate  and  en- 
noble his  people.  The  founder  of  the  Baptist  church  in 
Plymouth  and  the  Bay  colonies,  he  led  in  all  that  uplifts 
and  purifies  the  moral  and  spiritual  life  of  his  fiock. 

Fondly  do  we  guard  our  possessions  and  rich  legacies 
of  character,  treasures  that  enrich  and  never  lose  their 
value.  Proud  are  we  of  our  family  connections.  Well 
have  we  profited  by  the  legacies  of  the  past. 

Barrington  has  given  men  of  affairs  to  the  state  and 
nation  of  the  character  and  quality  I   leave  you  to  judge 


38  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

and  point  you  to  the  honored  Chairman  as  one  of  her 
later  ones.  One  other  I  would  refer  to  here,  well  known 
to  many  in  this  audience  to-day.  A  man  whose  large 
warm  heart  beat  with  loving  sympathy  for  the  tried  and 
erring,  whose  clear  mature  mind  and  strong  common  sense 
united  with  a  liberal  spirit  and  a  sublime  faith  reminded 
us  of  the  strong  men  of  the  past.  I  speak  of  the  Hon. 
Lewis  B.  Smith,  "  who  being  dead,  yet  speaketh  "  to  us 
to-day. 

Barrington  has  not  acquired  as  much  of  material 
wealth  as  some  of  her  children  or  grandchildren  of  old 
Rehoboth,  but  she  has  kept  the  spirit  o*f  her  ancestors,  as 
her  wide  awake,  intelligent  public  spirit  indicates  and  has 
ever  sought  to  emulate  their  sterling  qualities  of  honesty 
and  sobriety  and  high  moral  character  that  has  for  its 
basis  virtue  and  true  godliness.  What  better  lineage  and 
possessions  could  Barrington  desire  ?  "  Truly  the  lines 
have  fallen  unto  us  in  pleasant  places  and  we  have  a 
goodly  heritage." 

Barrington  brings  the  glory  of  lier  lineage  and  the 
honor  of  her  possessions  and  achievements  and  lays  them 
at  the  feet  of  her  grandmother,  with  her  sincere  and 
hearty  congratulations  on  this  her  anniversary  day. 

flttleboro,  1694 ; 

Rehoboth  celebrated  her  fiftieth  birthday  by  giving 
her  dowry  and  blessing  to  an  enterprising  daughter  named 
Attleboro  who  set  up  housekeeping  for  herself  at  birth, 
and  soon  celebrates  her  two  hundredth  anniversary.  Her 
two  children,  Cumberland  and  North  Attleboro,  rise  up 
and  call  her  blessed,  Avhile  our  ancient  mother  Rehoboth 
says  of  her,  "Many  daughters  have  done  virtuously,  but 
thou  excellest  them  all.'' 


RECOGNITION    OF    TOWNS.  -39 

North  flttleboro,  1887  ■ 

Westward  the  star  of  Empire  and  Northward  the 
star  of  Enterprise  takes  its  way  from  Rehoboth  to  the 
pushing,  thriving,  driving  new  municipality  of  Nortli 
Attleboro.  While  she  may  not  remember  Joseph  and  the 
flocks  of  Kedar,  she  has  respect  for  the  Gold  of  Ophir, 
and  of  one  of  her  diamond  jewelled  maidens  it  might  be 
said,  ''  Even  Solomon  in  all  his  Glory  was  not  arrayed 
like  one  of  these."  She  is  the  crown  jewel  and  jeweller 
of  her  granddam  Rehoboth.  May  she  always  wear  a 
glittering  diadem. 

Response    by   Rev.  John  Whitehill,  of    Oldtown, 

Mass. 

Mr.  Chairman.,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

North  Attleboro  regards  herself  as  a  sister,  rather 
than  a  daughter  of  Attleboro.  She  is  the  youngest 
daughter  of  Rehoboth,  and  as  the  same  time  one  of  the 
oldest. 

At  the  youngest  she  is  but  seven  years  of  age,  and 
her  body  consists  of  a  slice  taken  from  so  much  of  old 
Rehoboth  North  Purchase  as  was  left  after  Cumberland 
had  been  set  off  to  Rhode  Island  in  1746-7.  For  some 
years  previous  to  the  incorporation  of  North  Attleboro  as 
a  separate  municipality  there  were  two  large  villages 
called  North  Attleboro  and  East  Attleboro  (or  sometimes 
Attleboro  simply),  about  four  miles  apart.  Each  village 
had  its  own  churches,  its  own  high  school,  as  well  as  com- 
mon schoole,  its  own  bank,  its  own  jewelry  shops  and 
other  manufactories,  etc.  The  two  places  were  like  the 
Siamese  twins,  each  complete  in  itself,  each  distinct  from 
the   other,  yet  both  having  the  same   life  blood  and  the 


40  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

same  interests.  There  were  some  people,  however,  who 
said  that  the  ligament  holding  them  together  ought  to  be 
cut.  It  was  claimed  that  they  were  making  faces  at  each 
other;  or  if  not,  they  would  soon  be  doing  it,  for,  being 
rivals,  it  was  but  natural  that  they  should.  Efforts  were 
made  iu  town  meeting  to  commit  the  town  by  legal  vote 
in  favor  of  division,  but  without  success. 

Finall}^  the  legislature  was  petitioned,  and  on  the 
fourteenth  of  June,  1887,  a  permissive  bill  was  approved. 
This  was  an  "Act  to  incorporate  the  Town  of  North 
Attleborousfh."  It  was  to  be  null  and  void,  unless  rati- 
tied  within  a  certain  time  by  a  majority  of  the  voters 
present  and  voting  in  the  several  precincts  on  the  same 
day.  The  voting  ook  place  July  30,  1887,  and  division 
was  carried  by  a  majority  of  23  in  a  total  vote  of  1307. 
Of  the  665  votes  in  favor  of  division  nearly  two  thirds 
were  cast  by  those  living  outside  of  the  proposed  new 
town  of  North  Attleboro.  North  Attleboro  is  no  seces- 
sionist. She  went  out  to  be  by  herself,  because  she  was 
politely  but  deliberately  voted  out  by  those  who  were  not 
resident  on  her  soil. 

We  are  a  child  of  seven  years  only,  but  we  have  a 
vigorous  life  derived  from  the  sturdy  yeomen  of  old 
Rehoboth.  We  number  about  seven  thousand  people  (as 
many  as  were  in  the  whole  of  the  town  twenty-four  years 
ago),  and  our  property  valuation  is  about  four  millions. 

It  will  give  you  some  faint  idea  of  our  prosperity 
and  our  great  expectations  to  be  told  that  New  Boston 
lies  within  our  territory,  in  the  northeastern  section  of 
our  town.  You  know  what  a  vast  difference  there  is  in 
size  and  growth  and  enterprise  between  New  York  on 
this   continent   and    old    York   in   the   mother    country^ 


RECOGNITION    OF    TOWNS.  41 

There  is  as  great  a  difference  between  the  Boston  which 
vauntingly  styles  herself  "the  hub  of  the  universe  "  and 
the  New  Boston  which  lies  within  the  limits  of  our  town. 
Not  a  little  has  been  said  recently  in  the  newspapers 
about  schemes  of  annexation,  which,  if  carried  into  effect, 
are  to  result  in  the  "  Greater  Boston "  as  it  is  called. 
Wait  till  our  New  Boston  swallows  up  the  old  city  at  the 
head  of  Massachusetts  Ba}^,  and  then  you  will  see  a 
greater  Boston  indeed. 

We  have  town  electric  lights,  town  water,  a  town 
fire  department  and  a  town  library.  There  is  in  process 
of  erection  a  fine  library  building — the  Richards  Memorial, 
— the  gift  of  a  public  spirited  and  generous  family  of  the 
town. 

Two  steam  railroad  systems  traverse  our  territory — 
the  New  York  and  New  England  and  the  New  York,  New 
Haven  and  Hartford — furnishing  direct  communication 
with  Providence  and  Boston.  In  addition  to  these  we 
have  two  lines  of  electric  street  car  rails,  connecting  us 
with  Plain ville,  Attleboro  and  Pawtucket.  These  rails 
are  a  great  blessing  to  our  children  who  get  much  gym- 
nastic practice  thereon,  trying  to  see  how  far  they  can 
walk  on  them  without  stepping  off. 

We  have  in  our  town  four  post-offices,  making  con- 
siderable work  for  a  number  of  local  politicians  every 
time  there  is  a  change  in  national  administration.  Our 
schools  number  thirty-one,  employing  forty-two  teachers. 
For  school  houses  we  have  seven  large  two-story  buildings, 
besides  five  smaller  buildinsfs  for  the  accommodation  of 
single  schools.  Our  school  system  is  so  good  that  many 
of  our  teachers  are  sought  and  lured  away  to  QtUer  towns 
and  cities  where  higlxQi:  3,alaries  are  paid,,. 


42  250th  anniveksary  of  rehoboth. 

Our  people  are  well  accommodated  with  cliu relies, 
each  of  which  is  a  centre  of  blessing  to  its  own  particular 
field,  and  all  of  which  are  as  one,  when  anything  is  pro- 
jected for  the  general  good,  as,  for  instance,  when  the 
cause  of  temperance  or  of  chanty  calls  for  united  action. 

We  rejoice  in  all  the  prosperity  of  our  sister  town, 
bordering  us  on  the  southeast,  and  we  do  not  intend  to  be 
led  into  anj^  comparisons  with  her.  You  know  what  is 
said  of  comparisons.  But  when  you  hear  of  West  Attle- 
boro  and  Attleboro  Falls  and  Attleboro  Agricultural 
Association  and  the  Attleboro  Fair  and  Attleboro  this  and 
Attleboro  that,  bear  in  mind  that  these  places  and  things 
are  in  North  Attleboro.  Even  the  two  principal  streams 
— the  Seven  Mile  river  and  the  Ten  Mile  river— gather 
their  blessings  in  North  Attleboro,  before  advancing 
further  in  their  course  pour  them  into  the  lap  of  our  sister 
town  with  the  shorter  name. 

Our  old  mother  Rehoboth  here  may  be  pardoned,  if 
she  feels  a  special  fondness  for  North  Attleboro.  It  was 
from  North  Attleboro  that  the  former  pastor  of  your  vil- 
lage church  came — the  pastor  who  served  you  with  such 
faithfulness  and  acceptance  for  a  period  of  fourteen  years, 
and  who  took  the  lead  in  the  formation  of  your  Antiqua- 
rian Society  and  guided  the  movement  which  culminated 
in  the  erection  of  your  beautiful  Goff  Memorial  Building. 
Rev.  George  W.  Tilton  was  the  first  pastor  of  the  Cen- 
tral Congregational  Church  in  North  Attleboro,  and  came 
to  you  directly  from  that  church  when  he  had  wooed  and 
won  the  North  Attleboro  lady  whom  you  knew  here  as 
his  lovely  and  accomplished  wife. 

I  said  that  North  Attleboro  was  not  only  the  youngest 
but  also  one  of  the  oldest  of  the  daughters  of  old  mother 


rK(X)(;niti()n  ov  towns.  48 

Rehobotli.  When  you  speiik  of  the  Massacliusetts  i)urt 
of  the  old  North  Purchase,  it  is  North  Attleboro  cliiefly 
that  you  must  have  iu  mind.  North  Attleboro  is  the  old, 
original,  genuine  successor  of  tliat  Nortli  Purchase. 
"  All  otliers  are  base  imitations."' 

It  was  in  North  Attleboro  that  the  first  house  was 
built  by  a  Rehoboth  settler — the  house  of  John  Woodcock, 
which  was  also  the  first  tavern,  and  was  used  as  a  gar- 
rison in  King  Philip's  war.  It  was  in  Nortli  Attleboro 
that  the  first  mill  was  built — the  saw  and  grist  mill  of 
Joseph  and  Nathaniel  Daggett.  The  first  establishment 
for  the  manufacture  of  jewelry  was  in  North  Attleboro, 
one  hundred  and  fourteen  years  ago,  and  the  second  too, 
for  that  matter.  In  North  Attleboro  stood  the  first  meet- 
ing-house built  by  the  immigrants  from  Rehoboth.  In 
North  Attleboro  was,  and  is,  the  old  powder  house,  where 
the  settlers  kept  their  ammunition,  one  hundred  and 
twenty -five  years  ago,  and  close  by,  in  the  same  town,  is 
the  training  ground  used  by  their  military  forces.  We 
still  keep  alive  in  North  Attleboro  the  old  Indian  names 
in  our  Wamsutta  hotel  and  opera  house  and  our  Anawan 
block.  Coming  down  to  more  recent  times,  it  was  in 
North  Attleboro  that  the  first  lociil  newspaper  was  started. 

But  I  have  gone  into  particulars  enough.  We  are 
not  boasting.  We  are  simply  developing  and  interpreting 
by  this  statement  of  facts  the  true  but  glowing  eulogy 
pronounced  by  you,  Mr.  Toastmaster,  upon  our  honored 
town.  Our  only  purpose  is  to  show  that  North  Attleboro, 
although  the  youngest  of  Rehoboth's  municipal  daughters, 
is  neither  a  foundling  nor  an  upstart.  No  other  daughter 
has  received  more  of  her  life  from  good,  old  mother  Relio 
both  than   she,  and   none  is  bound  to  the  mother  by  ten- 


44  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

clerer  recollections  and  stronger  and  more  numerous  ties. 
Even  if  she  were  disposed  to  ignore  her  origin  (which 
she  is  not),  she  could  not  do  it,  while  so  many  interesting 
events  in  history  connect  her  directly  with  the  distant 
past  and  so  many  monuments  on  her  soil  point  to  the  an- 
cient town  from  which  she  came.  All  these  things  must 
pass  from  sight  and  from  memory  before  it  can  be  said 
of  her  that  "  she  knew  not  Joseph."  As  for  "  the  flocks 
of  Kedar,"  how  can  she  forget  them  so  long  as  her  inhab- 
itants continue  to  be  assessed  for  more  than  half  a  thou- 
sand cows  and  twenty-eight  sheep  ? 

Although  her  most  conspicuous  industry  is  the 
manufacture  of  jewelry,  yet  many  of  her  ten  thousand 
acres  are  under  cultivation,  and  her  fruits  and  field 
products  speak  for  themselves  in  her  annual  fairs.  She  is 
indeed  "  the  crown  jewel  and  jeweler  of  her  mother  Re- 
hoboth," and  can  deck  herself  any  day  in  a  glory  rivaling 
that  of  Solomon  ;  yet  she  is  no  lover  of  vain  display,  as 
any  one  can  see  who  walks  her  streets  and  looks  upon  the 
neat  and  tasteful  homes  of  her  people.  '  She  aims  to  pro- 
duce artistic  work  which  shall  be  "a  thing  of  beauty," 
if  not  "  a  joy  forever."  But  even  this  work  upon  which 
so  much  ingenuity  and  skill  are  expended  is  regarded  as 
only  a  means  to  an  end.  Personal  adornment  is  not  the 
grand  aim  of  Attleboro  life.  While  seeking  to  produce 
ornaments  of  gold  and  silver  and  pearl  which  shall  be 
unsurpassed  in  elegance  of  design  and  in  finish  of  work- 
manship, her  representative  men  and  women  desire,  as 
the  town's  greatest  glory,  a  population  sober,  industri- 
ous, thrifty,  self-respecting,  public  spirited,  reverencing 
God  and  seeking  the  good  of  their  fellow  men — a  popu- 
lation who  shall  be  the  worthy  descendants  of  their  Pil- 
grim ancestors— the  pioneers  of  old  Rehoboth. 


I!EOO(!NITION    nV    TOWNS.  45 

SeeKonK,  1812 : 

Push,  piety,  and  patriotism  ;  prime  principles  of  tlie 
Pilgrim  settlers  of  Rehobotli  ; — Seekonk,  a  loyal  daugh- 
ter of  Rehoboth  has  illustrated  the  virtues  of  the  Mother- 
town  in  all  her  liistory. 

Response  my  Joseph  Bkown,  Es(^,  of  Seekonk,  Mass. 

Mr.  Chairynan,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

It  is  asserted  in  the  sentiment  given  me  to  discuss, 
that  the  Pilgrim  settlers  of  ancient  Rehoboth  were  men 
of  push,  piety  and  patriotism,  and  that  their  descendants 
have  exhibited  the  virtues  of  their  ancestors. 

The  spirit  of  Push  that  moves  to  action,  is  ever  the 
same  in  whatever  channel  it  acts.  But  action  is  always 
evolved  by  circumstances  ;  as  circumstances  differ,  action 
differs.     Push  is  only  known  in  action. 

What  caused  or  led  the  settlers  of  Ancient  Rehoboth 
to  be  men  of  push  ?  What  were  the  circumstances  that 
led  them  to  action  ?  What  was  the  condition  of  Rehoboth 
two  hundred  and  fifty-one  years  ago  ?  Generally  a  wilder- 
ness covered  with  a  dense  forest,  not  a  road  constructed, 
not  a  bridge  built,  a  lot  fenced,  or  a  house  erected.  If 
they  were  to  make  this  their  home,  what  must  be  done  ? 
In  order  to  construct  roads,  bridges,  fences,  houses,  and 
subdue  the  forest,  together  with  the  cultivation  of  their 
crops,  what  toil,  patience,  endurance,  and  perseverance 
were  necessary?  But  those  settlers  were  equal  to  the 
situation.  Their  great  need  and  the  circumstances  in 
which  they  were  placed,  nerved  them  to  action,  and 
almost  superhuman  efforts.  Thus,  surrounding  circum- 
stances moved  their  spirit  of  push  to  action,  and  they 
stand  before  the  world  notably  as  men  of  push. 


46  250th  anntversaky  of  rehoboth. 

Patriotism  is  love  of  one's  own  country,  a  personal 
quality  of  character  always  respected  in  all  ages. 

The  first  settlers  of  Ancient  Rehoboth  must  liave 
been  men  of  faith  and  courage,  or  tliey  would  not  have 
left  the  land  of  their  fathers,  the  home  of  their  childhood, 
and  severed  the  thousand  associations  and  ties,  binding 
them  to  their  English  homes,  and  embark  on  a  perilous 
voyage  across  the  wide  ocean,  to  make  a  home  in  a  wil_ 
derness  in  a  far  distant  land.  And  for  what?  Not  for 
gain  like  the  adventurers  to  California  when  gold  was 
discovered,  but,  for  conscience  sake.  They  were  a  liberty 
loving  people.  They  would  rather  suffer  exile,  and  if 
need  be,  death,  rather  than  an  invasion  of  their  natural 
and  inherent   rights. 

But  they  were  soon  called  to  meet  with  more  serious 
difficulties  than  I  have  named.  They  had  scarcely  cleared 
their  fields,  and  provided  things  comfortable,  before  the 
Indian  war  commenced. 

Its  commencement  and  close  was  within  the  limits 
of  Ancient  Rehoboth.  It  commenced  by  an  attack  of  the 
Indians  on  Wannamoiset,  now  Swansea,  and  closed  by 
the  capture  of  Annawan  in  the  vicinity  where  we  are 
now  assembled. 

Rehoboth  probably  suffered  more  in  this  war  than 
any  other  town  in  Plymouth  Colony,  because  of  its  prox- 
imity to  Mt.  Hope,  the  residence  of  Philip.  Rehoboth 
gave  both  men  and  money  for  this  war,  and  her  soil  was 
moistened  with  the  blood  of  her  citizens  who  fell  in  con- 
flict with  the  savage  foe.  The  most  bloody  and  disastrous 
battle  of  the  war  was  fought  within  the  limits  of  Ancient 
Rehoboth.     Sixty-three   white  men   and  twenty  Cape  In- 


llEco(J^'lTJON  or  To^v^^8.  47 

dians  arrived  at  Helioboth,  now  East  Providence,  when 
they  were  joined  by  some  of  our  citizens,  and  all  went  in 
search  of  the  Indians  who  were  known  to  be  in  this 
vicinity. 

Usually  the  shrill  tones  of  the  bugle,  the  clang  of 
the  cymbal,  and  the  deep  roll  of  the  drum,  nerve  the 
soldiers  for  the  conflict,  but  not  so  here.  They  marched 
forward  silently  to  the  field  of  carnage  and  death,  but 
with  that  determined  step,  that  told  the  spirit  of  that 
heroic  band. 

They  came  upon  the  foe  a  little  above  Pawtucket, 
attacked  and  pursued  them  until  they  were  drawn  "  into 
an  ambuscade,  and  surrounded  b}^  more  than  five  times 
their  number." 

Capt.  Pierce  formed  his  men  in  a  circle,  so  as  to  pre- 
sent a  front  in  every  direction.  ••'  There  was  no  retreat, 
it  was  victory  or  death."  No  quarter  was  asked,  no 
quarter  given.  The  battle  raged  for  nearly  three  hours, 
and  these  brave  men  fell  one  by  one  at  their  posts  till 
neajly  all  lay  dead  or  wounded  on  the  bloody  field.  No 
monument  marks  the  spot  where  these  biave  men  fell,  but 
the  record  of  their  sacrifice  and  action  is  placed  on  historic 
shelves,  where  future  generations  may  read  and  know 
somewhat  of  the  courage  and  patriotism  of  the  first 
settlers  of  tliis  country. 

History  has  handed  down  through  the  ages  the  ex- 
ploits of  ancient  warriors,  records  few  instances  where 
more  courage,  determination  and  patriotism  were  dis- 
played, than  by  Pierce  and  his  brave  men  on  Rehoboth's 
plains. 


48  250th    ANNIVEBSARY    OF    BEHOBOTH. 

The  IiKlians  then  attacked  western  Reboboth,  now 
East  Providence,  drove  the  inhabitants  into  the  garrison 
house  and  burned  tlieir  dwellings. 

When  we  pass  over  a  century  of  time,  we  find  the 
patriotic  spirit  developed  in  the  Indian  war  again  mani- 
fested at  the  commencement  of  the  trouble  with  Great 
Britain. 

In  1773  the  Town's  Corresponding  Committee  sent 
a  letter  to  Rehoboth's  Representative  for  him  to  join 
in  every  constitutional  measure  to  remove  the  unjust 
burdens  laid  upon  us. 

On  July  25,  1774,  voted  they  would  not  purchase  any 
goods  imported  from  Great  Britain  after  August  31st, 
unless  the  "Boston  Port  Bill"  was  repealed,  and  the  gov- 
ernment was  restored  to  its  former  privileges.  Again  on 
May  26,  1775,  voted  to  raise  two  companies  to  be  ready 
at  any  alarm. 

The  day  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  came, 
Rehoboth  troops  marched  for  Boston.  The  patriotic 
spirit  of  this  people  was  shown  by  the  number  of  men 
sent  into  the  field,  and  the  liberal  appropriations  made  for 
their  support.  Bliss  in  his  history  gives  the  names  of  one 
hundred  and  forty-five  meji  who  enlisted  into  the  Con- 
tinental army  from  Rehoboth.  The  war  lasted  seven 
years  and  the  calls  for  men  came  often,  and  often  for 
large  numbers.  I  have  time  to  speak  of  only  two  of 
these  calls. 

On  August  18,  1778,  there  was  a  requisition  on  Col. 
Thomas  Carpenter's  regiment  for  one  hundred  and  fifty 
men  to  join  Gen.  Sullivan  on  Rhode  Island.  This  was 
only  eleven  days  before  the  battle. 


IIECOC.NITION    OF    TOWNS.  49 

Tlic  men  went,  and  were  the  first  engaged  in  that 
coiilliot,  I  hold  in  my  hand  a  call  for  men  from  Keliobuth. 
It  is  an  original  paper  which  lias  never  been  publislied. 
On  examining  some  ancient  papers  in  my  possession 
a  few  years  since,  1  found  this  and  many  other  papers 
pertaining  to  tlie  Revolutionary  war.     It  reads  as  follows  : 

Kehoboth,  August  11,  1779. 

Sir : — I  have  received  orders  this  day  from  Col. 
Thomas  Carpenter  for  the  purpose  of  raising  two  hundred 
and  twenty-eight  men  out  of  our  Regiment,  to  march  as 
soon  as  possible,  and  to  be  under  the  command  of  the 
Continental  General,  to  serve  four  weeks  from  the  time  of 
their  arriving  in  camp,  and  likewise  three  Captains  and 
six  Lieutenants,  to  commaad  them,  with  one  Field  officer 
from  the  Regiment.  You  are  therefore  required  to  raise 
thirty-three  men,  and  you  are  desired  to  meet  at  Mr. 
Jeremiah  Wheeler's  to-morrow,  at  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  to  consult  further  about  this  matter. 

Hereof  fail  not  as  you  regard  the  welfare  of  these 
states,  and  make  due  return  of  the  men  raised,  as  soon  as 
made  to  the  Col.  of  the  Regiment  or  myself. 

NATHANIEL  CARPENTER,  Major. 

Capt.  JOHN  PERRY. 

Kehoboth  not  only  sent  men  but  money  for  their 
support.  On  May  5,  1770,  voted  to  appropriate  £1,200. 
On  May  10,  1770,  X3,000.  On  October  23,  1780, 
£26,400.  Bliss  in  his  history  says  the  whole  amount 
raised  by  Rehoboth  in  1780,  was  £50,527,  4  shillings. 
Probal)ly  these  large  appropriations  wej'e  made  on  ac- 
count of  the  depreciation  of  the  currency,  which  was  a 
formidable  difficulty  they  had  to  encounter. 


50  250th  a>:niveesaiiy  of  rehop.oth. 

The  people  of  Rehol)oth  in  common  with  those  of 
the  Colonies,  though  comparatively  few  in  numbei",  and 
lacking  materially  the  "sinews  of  war,"  when  they 
learned  that  they  could  not  obtain  any  redress  from  the 
burdens  imposed  on  them,  boldly  bid  defiance  to  the 
British  lion,  trusting  themselves  and  their  cause  to  the 
Great  Arbiter  of  nations,  believing  that  the  race  is  not 
always  to  the  swift,  or  the  battle  to  the  strong. 

The  patriotic  spirit  of  1675  and  1775  still  remains. 
When  news  came  of  the  firing  upon  Ft.  Sumter  and  the 
defeat  of  the  Union  army  at  Bull  Run,  the  whole  North 
was  electrified, — thousands  enlisted  and  rushed  to  arms  ; 
determined  to  sustain  the  honor  of  the  old  flag. 

What  caused  this  great  outburst  of  patriotism  ?  It 
was  the  spirit  of  this  people  moved  to  action  by  the  events 
I  have  named.  We  are  still  the  same  patriotic  people 
and  any  attack  on  our  government  either  from  without  or 
within,  will  stir  up  this  patriotic  spirit  to  action.  In 
conclusion  I  would  say,  that  though  Ancient  Rehoboth 
had  not  the  fertile  soil  of  many  of  the  rich  valleys  and 
prairies  of  the  West,  the  mild  climate  of  Southern  Cal- 
ifornia, or  the  remarkable  scenery  of  the  Yosemite  Valley,, 
this  can  be  said  of  her,  Jihere  is  no  place  in  this  broad 
Union,  of  the  same  population,  that  has  produced  more 
high-minded,  stalwart,  brave,  industrious,  patriotic  men, 
or  more  noble,  virtuous  women,  than  Ancient  Rehoboth, 
which  is  the  noblest  fruitage  of  wliich  any  place  or  nation 
can  boast. 

PawtucKet.  1828  ■ 

Town  building  was  the  chief  work  of  the  men  of  the 
fust  generations.  Later  came  state-craft  and  as  a  result  of 
both,  later  still  came  the  spindle,  the  loom  and  the  bu«y 


RKOOCJNJTION    DF    TOWNS.  51 

factoiy.  Newmiiu  spun  his  coiicoidance  near  the  same 
spot  in  old  Kehoboth  where  Samuel  Slater  spun  tlie  ilrst 
yard  of  American  cloth.  Both  "  wrouo-ht  as  in  tlie  jxreat 
Taskmaster's  eye." 

Response  by  Hon.  Henry  E.  Tiepke,  Pawtucket. 

Cilnriberlarid,  1746: 

Around  Rehoboth  as  a  centre  and  Samuel  Newman 
its  intellectual  and  spiritual  light  gathered  otlier  great 
men  as  representatives  of  freedom  of  thought,  opinion 
and  action  of  the  elder  day.  Among  them  was  William 
Blackstone  who  fled  England's  Lords-Bishops  and  Boston's 
"  Lord's  brethren ''  for  the  quiet  retreat  of  Study  Hill  in 
Rehoboth,  now  the  soil  of  Cumberland,  a  town  worthily 
one  of  the  oldest  grand-daughters  of  Rehoboth. 

Hon.  Ellis  L.  Blake  was  expected  to  respond  for 
Cumberland,  but  was  not  present. 

East  Providence,  1862 ; 

A  town  of  varied  and  successful  fortunes :  once 
Rehoboth,  then  Seekonk,  now  East  Providence  ;  a  part 
of  Plymouth  County,  Bristol  County,  Providence  County  : 
in  the  States  of  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island.  The 
Custodian  of  the  ancient  church  site,  the  ''Ring"  of  the 
town.  Philips  Chair,  an  original  copy  of  Newman's  Con- 
cordance, the  old  Churchyard  of  the  Weymouth  worthies, 
and  the  graves  of  Capt.  Willet  and  John  Brown.  "  In 
the  resurrection  whose  child  shall  she  be?  " 

Response  by  Hon.  George  N.  Bliss,  East  PiioviDENCE, 

R.  L 

In  the  resurrection,  the  lirst  settlers  of  Relioboth  with 
a  goodly  number  of  their  descendants  will  all  be  found  at  * 


52  250th    ANNIVERSAKY    OF     KEHOliOTH. 

the  ancient  Ijurial  ground  near  the  Congregational  Church 
within  the  "ring  of  the  town  "  in  East  Providence  and 
in  Little  Neck  Burial  Ground  at  Riverside.  Capt. 
Thomas  Willett,  the  first  mayor  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
has  been  sleeping  more  than  two  hundred  years.  It 
should  not  be  forgotten  that  Roger  Williams  in  1636 
built  a  house  and  planted  crops  near  the  mouth  of  Ten 
Mile  River  in  East  Providence  intending  to  make  his 
home  there,  but  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts  wrote 
him  a  letter,  claiming  jurisdiction  and  advising  Roger 
Williams  to  go  across  the  river,  which  he  did,  thereby 
losing  a  crop  that  year,  as  it  was  too  late  in  the  season  to 
plant  again  at  his  new  location  in  Providence. 

The  dispute  as  to  the  boundary  line  was  not  ended 
until  March  1,  1862,  when  East  Providence  became  a  part 
of  Rhode  Island,  at  which  time  the  population  was  twelve 
hundred  and  fifty  and  the  valuation  of  property  was 
11,354,935.  The  last'  thirty-two  years  have  given  us  a 
rapid  growth:  the  population  by  the  census  in  1890  was 
8,422  and  is  now  estimated  at  more  than  10,000,  and  the 
assessors  of  taxes  for  1894  give  as  the  valuation  of  taxable 
property  the  sum  of  -19,018,431.  When  under  Massachu- 
setts rule  two  dilapidated  toll  bridges  gave  the  only  con- 
nection with  Providence ;  these  have  been  replaced  by 
new  free  bridges  and  one  of  these  (the  Red  Bridge)  is 
is  now  to  be  rebuilt  to  give  passage  to  electric  street  cars; 
school  houses  costing  1125,000  have  been  erected;  a  new 
Town  Hall,  containing  a  fire  proof  office  for  the  Town 
Clerk's  records  has  been  constructed  ;  iron  pipes  have  been 
laid  conveying  water  to  all  parts  of  the  Town,  and  tlie 
electric  street  rail  cars  convey  the  citizens  swiftly  and 
cheaply  along  the  highways. 

East  Providence  lias  about  eip^iit  miles  of  water  front 


JEREMIAH    W.    HORTON. 


UKCOCNITION    OF   TOWNS.  53 

Upon  the  Seekonk  and  Providence  rivers,  witli  steam  rail- 
roads running  tlie  entire  distance  adjoining  or  near  th(; 
water,  and  there  is  every  i-eason  to  expect  that  tlie  land 
occupied  by  the  lirst  settlers  of  Rehobotli  will  sooji  be 
the  centre  of  a  thickly  settled  peo[)le. 

Newport : 

The  sons  and  daughters  of  Rehoboth  liave  not  oidy 
founded  towns  and  cities  of  their  own  but  have  gone 
forth  to  assist  in  building  and  governing  towns,  cities  and 
states  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  The  Mother-town  is 
proud  of  their  labors  and  honors,  and  especially  congrat- 
ulates the  ancient  municipality  of  Newport,  in  the  State 
of  Rhode  Island,  that  a  successor  to  John  Coddington 
was  found  in  one  of  her  youngest  and  most  worthy  rep- 
resentatives and  children. 

Response  by  Hon.  Jeremiah  W.  Horton,  Newport, 

R.  I. 

Mr.  Chairman^  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

While  I  do  not  purpose  to  make  a  formal  speech,  I 
am  very  grateful  for  an  opportunity  to  thank  ray  friends 
for  the  kind  invitation  which  permits  me  to  join  with  you 
in  celebrating  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of 
the  settlement  of  our  native  Town.  I  am  pleased  to 
meet  so  many  of  the  friends  of  my  youth,  and  I  have 
heartily  enjoyed  the  eloquent  words  that  have  been 
spoken  by  the  distinguished  gentlemen  who  have  pre- 
ceeded  me.  I  am  also  glad  of  the  opportunity  I  have  to 
speak  in  behalf  of  my  adopted  home.  No  one  has  greater 
reason  to  be  proud  of  their  home  or  to  speak  well  of  it 
than  I  have  to  be  proud  of  Newport  and  to  speak  in 
praise  of  the  "  Beautiful  City  by  the  sea."     In  the  year 


54  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

1638  Governor  Coddington  with  seventeen  others  pur- 
cliased  Aquidneck,  (afterward  named  Rhode  Island),  of 
the  Indians  and  begun  a  settlement  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  island,  now  known  as  Newtown.  The  following- 
year,  1639,  they  went  south  and  settled  Newport,  there- 
fore Rehoboth  is  five  years  younger  than  Newport.  Pre- 
vious to  the  Revolutionary  war,  Newport  was  the  most 
prosperous  and  thrifty  town  in  the  Colonies.  It  was 
then  styled  the  "Emporium  of  fashion,  refinement  and 
taste."  Many  of  the  houses  were  models  of  architectural 
beauty,  and  not  a  few  of  its  inhabitants  were  wealthy, 
cultured  and  refined.  The  British  took  possession  of  the 
town  in  the  year  1776  and  for  three  years  it  was  under 
martial  law.  The  eiglit  thousand  British  soldiers  literally 
sacked  the  town.  Not  less  than  five  hundred  houses 
were  burned,  shade  and  fruit  trees  were  cut  down,  all  the 
churches  except  two  w^ere  used  for  riding  schools  and 
stables.  All  the  bells  except  one,  the  gift  of  Queen  Anne, 
were  taken  down  and  sent  to  New  York,  the  State  House 
was  used  for  a  hospital,  all  the  wells  were  filled  up  just 
before  the  British  evacuated  the  town.  When  the  British 
took  possession  of  the  town  it  had  a  population  of  twelve 
thousand.  Three  years  later  when  they  evacuated  it  there 
were  but  four  thousand.  The  inhabitants  were  then  so 
poor  they  had  to  be  helped  by  the  neighboring  towns,  and 
the  State  sent  one  hundred  and  sixty  cords  of  wood  worth 
120.00  per  cord,  and  |1,000  to  be  distributed  to  the  poor. 
Newport  has  many  places  of  historic  interest,  and  was 
the  birthplace  and  home  of  many  distinguished  men  ;  and 
among  them  were  such  men  as  Rev.  Wm.  Ellery  Channing, 
a  statue  of  whom  was  last  year  placed  upon  Touro  Park 
near  the  Old  Stone  Mill,  the  history  of  which  is  so 
shrouded  in  mystery.     Commodore  Oliver  Hazard  Perry, 


RECOGNITION    OF   TOWNS.  55 

the  hero  of  Lake  Erie ;  his  statue  stands  on  Washington 
Park  and  was  the  work  of  Turner,  one  of  Newport's  sons. 
Commodore  Matthew  C.  Perry  who  negotiated  the  treaty 
with  Cliina  and  Japan  and  opened  tlieir  ports  to  the  com- 
merce of  tlie  world;  liis  statue  stands  on  Touro  Park 
near  Bellevue  Avenue;  and  such  artists  as  King,  Mal- 
bone,  Stuart,  Stngg  and  Ricliards.  On  Clarke  Street 
may  be  seen  the  Vernon  House  where  Gen.  Wasliington 
stayed  during  liis  first  visit  to  Newport.  He  was  the 
guest  of  Count  Rochambeau.  Upon  liis  arrival  in  the 
town  the  French  soldiers  formed  a  line  which  extended 
from  the  wharf  where  he  landed  to  the  Count's  head- 
quarters. The  following  evening  there  was  a  parade  and 
the  town  was  ilhniiinated.  The  Town  Council  caused 
candles  to  be  distributed  to  tliose  who  were  too  poor  to 
buy  them  so  that  every  window  might  be  liglited.  Tliirty 
boys  marched  at  the  head  of  the  procession  with  candle 
torches.  A  little  anecdote  is  related  of  Washington  at 
this  time.  A  little  boy  in  the  crowd  who  had  heard 
much  about  Gen.  Washington  was  very  anxious  to  see 
him  so  his  father  took  him  in  his  arms  and  carried  him  to 
an  open  window  near  to  which  Gen.  Washington  was 
standing  and  pointed  him  out  to  the  boy.  The  child 
looked  amazed  and  said  "  Why  papa,  Gen.  Washington  is 
a  man."  The  old  hero  was  near  enough  to  hear  what  the 
boy  said,  and  turned  and  put  his  hand  on  the  boy's  head 
and  said,  '^  Yes  my  lad  and  nothing  but  a  man." 

From  that  day  to  this,  Newport  has  been  honored  by 
many  distinguished  visitors.  Last  year,  as  Mayor  of  the 
city,  it  was  my  pleasant  duty  to  be  the  first  to  welcome 
Capt.  Anderson  with  his  Viking  Ship  to  America.  We 
were  also  honored  with  a  visit  from  Admiral  Kaznakoff, 
with  his   Russian   Ueet.     The  Rajah  of  Rajahn,  King  of 


56  250th    ANKIYEBSAEY    OF    EEHOBOTH. 

Kapurthala,  India,  also  made  us  a  visit.  I  am  here  re- 
minded of  a  little  incident  which  occurred  while  the  King 
was  at  Chicago.  Governor  Brown  met  the  Rajah  at  some 
reception,  and  while  talking  with  him  asked  him  how  he 
liked  Rhode  Island.  He  hesitated  for  a  moment  and  then 
said,  ''I  have  travelled  so  much  and  seen  so  many  places  that 
I  don't  seem  to  remember  Rhode  Island."  "  But,"  said  the 
Governor,  "  don't  you  remember  Newport?"  "  Oh,  yes," 
he  said,  "  I  remember  Newport,  Newport  is  a  beautiful 
place,  I  had  a  delightful  time  there."  So  Mr.  Chairman 
you  see  that  while  one  may  forget  the  State,  he  will 
remember  Newport. 

The  vein  in  which  I  am  speaking  reminds  me  of  a 
story  of  the  Yankee  who  visited  Europe  and  was  there 
entertained  by  some  English  friends.  They  took  him 
through  the  halls  of  Parliament,  and  wheu  asked  what  lie 
thought  of  them  said,  "  Oh,  they  don't  compare  with  the 
halls  of  Legislation  in  Washington.  America  is  far  ahead." 
They  took  him  to  France,  and  while  he  acknowledged  that 
some  things  were  beautiful,  he  said,  "  America  is  ahead." 
They  then  took  him  to  Rome  and  visited  St.  Peters.  ''This," 
he  said,  "is  a  fine  chapel,  but  we  have  some  cathedrals  in 
my  country,  America  is  ahead."  His  friends  were  getting 
a  little  tired  of  it,  and  knowing  his  weakness  they  gave 
him  all  he  wanted  to  drink,  and  he  got  sleepy,  so  they  took 
him  down  into  the  catacombs  and  laid  him  down  on  the 
cold  marble  floor,  and  placing  a  lighted  candle  at  his  liead 
left  him  to  sleep  off  liis  stupor.  When  they  thought  it 
was  time  for  him  to  awake  they  went  back  and  stood  a 
little  way  off  to  see  what  he  would  do.  Soon  he  sat  up 
and  rubbing  his  eyes  looked  around  at  the  skulls  and  cross- 
bones  that  were  piled  about  him.     He   then  seized   the 


RECOGNITION    OF   TOWNS.  57 

lighted  candle,  jumped  to  his  feet,  and  waving  the  candle 
above  his  head  exclaimed,  "  It's  the  Resurrection  morn- 
ing, and  I  am  the  first  man  up.     America  is  ahead." 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  again  I  thank 
you  for  this  cordial  greeting,  and  I  sincerely  hope  that 
blessings  like  those  which  have  been  so  bountifully 
bestowed  upon  this  Town  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
may  be  continued  to  it  for  centuries  to  come. 


58  250th  anniveesary  of  rehoboth. 


Historical  Address 

]iY  HON.  EDAVIX  L.  BAEXEY 

Men  and  Women  of  Rehohoth : 

The  flight  of  years,  the  round  of  time,  has  brought 
to  this  old  town  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary 
of  its  settlement.  The  third  century  of  its  existence  is 
passing  into  history.  A  review  of  the  decades  that  have 
gone  by  reveals  the  story  of  a  town — Rehoboth  has  not 
been  incorporated  into  the  cities  that  have  sprung  up 
around  her.  The  farm  and  homestead  still  remain.  An- 
cient landmarks  are  not  obliterated.  The  peaceful  hills 
and  valleys  have  not  been  converted  into  the  avenues  of 
trade  :  the  fields  have  not  been  given  over  to  the  factory 
and  the  store.  The  restless,  teeming  tide  of  commerce  has 
made  no  confusing  labyrinth  of  the  ways  and  lanes  of  this 
quiet  New  England  town — a  town  with  ambition — a  town 
with  influence  and  blessed  with  the  strength  of  sturdy 
men  and  women.  It  was  not  decreed  that  traffic  should 
rule  here.  It  was  not  destined  that  the  plan  by  which 
this  place  was  created  should  be  thwarted. 

The  advanced  ideas  of  its  founders,  their  devoted  pur- 
pose to  provide  a  home-loving  community,  with  a  just  and 
impartial  government  gives  its  story  a  never-ending  inter- 
est. It  is  not  alone  the  dignity  of  years  that  gives  signifi- 
cance to  this  occasion.  A  great  lapse  of  time  would  have 
no  particular  charm,  if  that  were  only  for  us  to  contem- 
plate. It  is  the  consideration  of  what  has  been  done  that 
claims  our  attention.  We  are  to  profit  by  the  contrast 
between  our  condition  and  that  of  our  forefathers.  We 
have  cause  on  this  natal  day  for  congratulation,  little  for 
regret  and  none  for  apology.     Our  great  country  has   but 


HISTORK^AL   AI)i)UESS.  59 


just  concluded  the  celebration  of  its  grand  Columbian 
yeai".  Beside  the  things  of  the  past  have  been  set  the 
things  of  the  present.  The  old  lias  been  compared  vvitli 
the  new.  Each  step  in  the  great  era  of  progress  has  been 
shown  by  the  greatest  exposition  the  world  ever  looked 
upon. 

The  glory  that  comes  from  the  demonstration  there 
made,  that  this  is  the  foremost  nation  of  the  earth  belongs 
to  no  single  place  or  section.  The  four  hundred  years 
that  had  passed  witnessed  this  great  development  when 
other  countries  were  already  old  on  the  race  of  the  globe. 

The  growth,  advancement  and  progress  of  these  United 
States  gives  us  all  a  just  cause  for  pride.  The  works  of 
today,  contrasted  with  those  of  days  gone  by,  promise  ac- 
complishments for  the  future  that  almost  surpass  belief. 

What  part  has  been  played  by  our  townsmen  ?  What 
impress  has  been  made  by  this  community  ?  I  call  your 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  founders  of  Rehoboth  estab- 
lished here  a  government  based  upon  principles  that  were 
never  abandoned.  They  believed  in  a  people's  govern- 
ment and  carried  it  fearlessly  and  unflinchingly  into  effect. 
It  required  no  ordinary  courage  for  the  colonists  to  leave 
their  homes  for  an  unknown  shore.  The  fortitude  with 
which  they  met  all  adversity  compels  our  admiration. 
The  pioneers  in  these  fields  had  no  thought  of  conquest ; 
they  did  not  seek  riches  ;  they  were  not  filled  with  greed 
for  plunder.  To  despoil,  pre-empt  and  rob  was  no  part  of 
their  purpose.  Devoted  to  principle,  they  had  left  their 
mother  country  to  escape  persecution. 

Non-conformists  to  the  religious  views  of  the  majority 
of  their  fellows,  they  sought  a  home  where  they  might 
believe  and  worship   as   they  pleased.     Stout-hearted  and 


60  250th  anniversaky  of   rehoboth. 

courageous,  they  braved  the  seas  for  the  new  world. 
Others  there  were  who  had  preceded  them  and  become  as 
arrogant  as  those  from  whom  they  had  fled.  Forgetting 
the  protest  they  had  made  against  those  above  them,  they 
domineered  with  increasing  stringency  when  they  held 
power  themselves. 

Your  first  white  settler,  William  Blackstone,  left 
England  because  he  couldn't  endure  the  "Lord  bishops," 
and  although  he  was  quite  a  landed  proprietor  in  Boston, 
he  left  his  fellows  there,  saying  "I  cannot  join  with  you, 
because  I  would  not  be  under  the  "Lord  brethren." 

The  home  he  established  in  the  wilderness  near  the 
river  which  takes  his  name  was  dedicated  to  the  quietness 
of  study. 

When  Newman  and  his  followers  came  from  Wey- 
mouth, they  were  bent  on  organizing  a  community  where 
the  rights  of  conscience  should  be  respected.  Boston  and 
Lynn  had  become  unbearably  intolerant.  The  bitter  ex- 
perience of  John  Myles,  and  the  trials  of  Roger  Williams, 
tempest  tossed  in  the  depths  of  winter,  were  painful  ex- 
amples of  the  dire  penalties  meted  out  to  heretics. 

Purchasing  the  land  from  Massacliusetts,  by  honest 
covenant,  they  carried  into  effect  the  purposes  for  which 
they  had  joarneyed  thither.  In  order  that  there  might  be 
a  fair  distribution,  they  had,  at  a  meeting  held  before  they 
left  Weymouth,  laid  the  preliminaries  for  the  division  and 
apportionment  of  the  lands  they  were  to  occupy. 

This  same  Weymouth  meeting,  in  1643,  passed  by  a 
vote  of  the  planters  an  order  for  the  support  of  the  schools. 
The  schoolmaster  was  made  fifth  in  the  list  of  land  owners. 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  61 

This  was  the  first  vote  in  all  the  world  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  free  public  schools  by  public  taxation.  All 
had  to  contribute,  whether  the  father  of  a  family  or  not. 

The  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  four  years  afterward, 
made  the  same  enactment. 

To  Massachusetts  has  always  been  conceded  the 
honor  of  being  the  first  in  that  great  system.  To  Reho- 
both  belongs  the  credit  of  inaugurating  that  grand  institu- 
tion, now  freely  acknowledged  to  be  first  in  importance  of 
any  department  under  our  government. 

Regulations  and  laws  were  made  for  their  mutual 
benefit  and  protection,  but  none  for  ostracizing  any  person 
on  account  of  his  beliefs.  The  little  band  held  dear  the 
tenets  of  their  faith. 

They  directed  their  hands  and  thoughts  to  employ- 
ment and  education.  To  these  they  remained  steadfast. 
Thus  were  developed  those  traits  of  character  which  gave 
the  basis  to  the  achievements  done  within  these  borders. 
No  witch  was  ever  hanged  in  Rehoboth  ;  no  Quaker  was 
ever  tortured  here;  no  heretic  was  ever  whipped  here. 
Bent  upon  a  plan  of  cultivation  and  improvement,  it  was 
never  forsaken  for  the  base  uses  of  trampling  upon  the 
weak  and  struggling,  to  their  own  enrichment.  No  dis- 
sension or  contention  disrupted  their  numbers.  The  little 
community  existed  by  the  fruits  of  its  own  labors,  and 
had  no  thought  of  trouble. 

A  glance  at  their  condition  at  this  time  is  not  like 
reading  a  tale  that  is  closed,  without  moral  and  pointing 
no  useful  lesson.  Their  method  was  adhered  to  and  ac- 
quiesced in  b}'  all.  Accident  or  chance  had  no  part  in 
their  doings.    They  were  directly  under  the  control  of  the 


62  250th   anniversary   of   REHOBOXri. 

Plymouth  court,  which  was  conducted  with  marked  liber- 
ality. The  land  grant  of  Massasoit  was  confirmed  by  the 
court. 

Although  a  general  settlement  was  made  in  1643,  it 
was  not  until  a  year  later  that  the  town  was  fairly  organ- 
ized. The  year  following,  1645,  the  commissioners  of  the 
United  Colonies  formally  incorporated  the  town  under  its 
present  scriptural  name,  Rehoboth.  It  included  the  ter- 
ritory now  comprised  in  the  following  towns  ;  Seekonk, 
East  Providence,  Pawtucket,  Cumberland,  Attleboro, 
North  Attleboro,  Swanzey,  Somerset,  Barrington  and 
Warren.  Each  succeeding  year  the  number  of  land  pro- 
prietors increased.  The  necessary  town  officials  were 
regularly  elected.  The  records  show  that  all  claimed  title 
to  land  by  virtue  of  purchase,  and  that  a  system  of  record- 
ing was  adopted  which  was  a  perpetual  assurance  of  the 
owner's  rights. 

Wamsutta,  the  son  of  Massasoit,  ratified  the  deed  of 
his  father. 

Each  land-holder  held  his  possessions  by  strict  right, 
and  no  one  questioned  it.  The  quiet  home  life  they  had 
sought  seemed  to  he  guaranteed  them.  Strange  to  say 
their  thrift  proved  their  only  menace.  It  was  because 
they  built  houses,  fenced  their  lots  and  extended  their 
fields  that  the  enmity  of  the  crafty  King  Philip  was  in- 
curred. His  father,  Massasoit,  and  his  brother,  Wam- 
sutta, saw  nothing  harmful  in  the  presence  of  industrious, 
frugal  and  honest  neighbors. 

Newman  had  named  the  town  Rehoboth,  because  in 
the  Hebrew  it  meant  '-a  large  place,"  and  he  piously  pro- 
claimed, "The  Lord  has  made  room  for  us."  Tlie  old 
chieftain  and  his  eldest  son  never  doubted  but  what  there 


JIISTOUICAL   ADDRESS.  63 

was  room  enough  for  all  ;  but  Philip  saw  with  jealous  eyes 
the  day  not  far  distant  when  there  would  be  no  room  for  the 
Indians.  He  had  ratified  the  covenant  of  purchase  given 
by  his  father  and  brother,  and  had  seemed  to  be  friendly, 
but  his  disposition  changed;  he  hated  with  all  the  ven- 
geance of  his  vile  nature.  He  struck  the  blow  ;  the  torch 
was  applied ;  houses  were  destroyed  ;  lives  were  taken 
whose  only  offense  had  been  that  they  had  dared  to  use 
the  strength  of  mind  and  muscle  that  God  had  given  them 
for  the  improvement  of  their  condition. 

Philip  is  said  to  have  been  remarkably  endowed.  He 
was  keen,  crafty,  sagacious  and  resourceful.  He  had 
once  before  cleverly  allayed  suspicion  by  surrendering  his 
arms  when  he  was  accused  of  preparing  war  against  the 
whites.  There  can  be  no  doubt  his  bloody  plans  had  long 
been  maturing.  He  had  thoroughly  united  all  the  tribes 
of  the  Indians  from  Plymouth  to  the  Connecticut  river. 
Sausaman,  his  fellow  Indian,  after  his  supposed  conver- 
sion, returned  to  Philip  only  to  again  abandon  wild  life 
and  rejoin  the  settlers.  When  he  was  shortly  afterwards 
found  murdered  in  Middleboro,  the  crime  was  traced  to 
several  Indians.  Their  guilt  being  proven,  they  were 
executed.  From  that  time  Philip  made  no  effort  to  con- 
ceal his  hatred. 

The  war  he  waged  was  furious  and  relentless.  The 
year  that  followed  was  one  of  horror.  The  frenzy  of  the 
red  man  thoroughly  aroused,  inspired  hini^  to  deeds  of 
awful  barbarity.  He  despoiled  with  demon-like  atrocity. 
From  his  headquarters  on  Mount  Hope,  Philip  directed 
the  slaughter.  Thirteen  towns  were  pillaged.  Six  hun- 
dred colonists  were  killed.  The  same  number  of  houses 
were  reduced  to  ashes.     This  section  was  the  scene  of  de- 


64  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

vastation  and  nun.     The  war  was  commenced  and  ended 
within  the  confines  of  the  original  town  of  Rehoboth. 

The  terrors  of  that  winter  cannot  be  adequately  pic- 
tured. Vigilance  was  never  abated  until  the  twelfth  of 
August  of  seventy-siXf  when  Philip  was  killed  by  Captain 
Church's  company.  With  the  capture  (»f  Annawan,  six- 
teen days  later,  almost  at  your  very  doors,  and  but  a  few 
miles  from  the  spot  where  we  are  now  gathered,  the  war 
was  closed.  Rehoboth  furnished  thirty  men,  who  served 
with  valor  and  distinction.  Subjected  to  great  privation 
and  ceaseless  anxiety,  they  had  spent  the  year.  The  end 
of  the  struggle  saw  the  people  impoverished,  but  not  dis- 
heartened. 

With  saddened  hearts  the  work  of  reconstruction  was 
commenced.  Undismayed  by  hardship,  they  built  anew. 
Calamity  had  not  discouraged  them.  With  commendable 
energy  they  labored. 

Fortunatel}^  the  next  one  hundred  years  saw  nothing 
of  war.  Peace  and  progress  reigned  supreme.  It  is  not 
written  that  much  of  historical  interest  transpired  between 
this  period  and  the  Revolution,  What  effect  it  would 
have  made  upon  the  after  growth  of  the  town  and  vicinity 
had  the  State  House  been  built  here  when  the  Massachu- 
setts bay  and  Plymouth  colonies  united  in  1692,  can  only 
be  a  matter  of  conjecture.  Boston  was  the  largest  of  the 
one  and  Rehoboth  the  largest  of  the  other  colony.  A 
spirited  contest  was  made  by  the  aspirants  of  each  for  the 
honor  of  being  the  State  Capital ;  it  was  developed  that 
Boston  had  a  few  votes  the  most  and  won  the  prize. 

A  continental  congress  was  held  in  Rehoboth  in 
October,  1709.     At  just  what  point  they  assembled  is  a 


HTSTOIUCAL    ADDRESS.  05 

matter  of  doubt.  Tlie  town  grew  in  size  and  influence. 
Highways  w^ere  ])uilt  and  new  settlements  appeared.  The 
names  of  the  residents  at  this  time  are  in  a  great  part 
familiar.  Many  there  are  present  directly  descended  from 
this  sturdy  band.  Successive  generations,  iilled  with  an 
abiding  love,  have  lemained  faithful  to  the  old  town. 
Hehoboth's  people  are  not  rovers  by  disposition.  Tlirough 
the  long  years  they  have  trod  the  walks  of  their  ancestors. 

The  trials  of  that  colonial  era  w^ere  forming  a  sub- 
stantial character  that  has  been  transmitted  from  genera- 
tion to  generation.  The  vicissitudes  that  had  been  under- 
gone, the  obstacles  that  had  been  overcome,  w-ere  pro- 
ducing a  marked  type  of  humanity. 

The  time  was  coming  to  shake  off  the  yoke  of  op- 
})ression.  The  })reliminary  murmurs  of  the  impending 
struggle  for  independence  were  heard  in  the  land.  It  Was 
manifest  that  a  crisis  in  their  affairs  was  near  at  hand. 
The  policy  of  the  colonies  could  not  be  determined  in  a  day. 

Opportunity  for  conferences  was  limited  ;  methods  of 
travel  primitive,  the  conveyance  of  news  slow  and  in- 
frequent. It  was  not  every  man  who  stood  ready  for 
battle.  Some  counseled  caution  and  more  deliberation. 
One  man's  influence  counted  for  little  beyond  his  imme- 
diate circle ;  the  voice  of  a  community  stood  for  every- 
thing ;  there  was  no  uncertainty  of  the  attitude  of  New 
England  and  no  hesitancy  on  the  part  of  the  town  of  Re* 
hobotli.  The  legislative  representative  of  the  town  was 
quickly  advised,  in  Boston,  that  James  Otis  was  indorsed  ; 
a  military  company  was  organized  and  the  town  stood  t(» 
resist  the  might  of  tyranny  as  against  the  right  of  man 
and  family.  Had  not  their  fathers  left  the  onl}-  home 
they  knew  for  a  dwelling  or  home  in  reality  with  all  that 


C)6  250Tn  a>:niveksaey  oy  rehoboth. 

implies?  Had  not  the  Indian  all  but  destroyed  it 
beyond  redemption '.^  In  all  things  they  had  triumphed 
under  the  banner  of  right,  and  should  the}',  their  sons, 
now  surrender  ? 

.  The  wholesome,  patriotic  ideas  that  were  deeply  in- 
stilled in  their  minds  forbade  such  a  thought.  The  minute 
men  of  Concord  and  Lexington  were  not  trained  soldiers. 
They  left  their  plows  to  take  up  the  musket.  All  men 
know  the  story  of  that  gallant  conliict.  It  was  the  same 
kind  of  patriot  tliat  the  process  of  the  years  Avas  making" 
in  the  town  of  Rehoboth. 

Fortunately  the  desolation  of  war  did  not  come  to 
tliese  borders.  The  peace  so  much  coveted  was  not  dis- 
turbed. Myles  bridge  and  garrison  house,  as  truly  historic 
as  Lexington  common,  ere  not  to  be  again  the  theater  of 
combat. 

We  can  imagine  the  thrill  of  exultation  with  wd)ich 
our  ancestors  received  the  news  that  justice  had  prevailed  ; 
that  England  had  relinquished  her  efforts  to  compel  alle- 
giance.  Hovv'-  tlieir  hearts  must  have  been  gladdened  at 
the  thought  of  freedom !  They  bad  sought  to  sever 
every  tie  of  religious  and  civil  relationship  that  bound 
them  to  the  land  of  kings ;  they  had  longed  for  liberty  of 
conscience.  To  entirely  escape  the  old,  and  be  unmolested 
in  the  new  life  was  their  greatest  hope  and  fondest  desire. 
It  is  true  that  their  neighbors  had  not  always  met  them 
in  the  frank,  open  spirit  of  the  Plymouth  colony,  but 
there  was  no  division  of  opinion,  they  thought  as  one — on 
the  subject  of  resisting  absolute  subjugation  by  Great 
Britain.  When  the  time  had  come  for  battle  it  found 
them  a  band  of  brothers  united  ;  standing  steadfast  and 
undivided. 


ESEK    H.   PIERCE. 


HISTORICAL    AhDUIOSS.  (IT 

Right  successfally  resisted  might.  Then  as  the 
smoke  of  battle  cleared  away  it  must  have  dawned  glo- 
riously upon  tlie  faitliful  men  and  women  that  tliereafter 
they  were  to  be  assured  immunity  from  inter-colonial  inter- 
ference ;  that  the  birth  of  a  great  republic  should  see  the 
acknowledgement,  without  question,  of  the  right  of  all 
men  "to  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.'' 

They  were  diligent  in  the  management  of  the  affairs 
of  the  town.  All  efforts  were  made  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  industry  and  education  that  their  means  would 
permit.  The  slender  salaries  of  the  parson,  the  doctor 
and  the  schoolmaster  amuse  us,  but  they  were  paid  by  the 
labors  of  honest  toilers  who  could  spare  no  larger.  They 
freely  gave  the  utmost  they  could  afford.  Their  deep  ap- 
pi-eciation  of  the  equity  of  a  people's  government  is  dis- 
played in  the  conduct  of  the  town  meetings.  Stringent 
provisions  were  made  for  compelling  attendance.  The 
greatest  regard  was  had  for  a  full,  fair  and  honest  debate. 
Their  belief  in  the  honesty  of  majority  rule  lead  them  to 
invite  the  fullest  discussion  of  all  matters  up  for  consid- 
eration. It  was  very  essential  that  the  accurate  sentiment 
of  the  majority  be  obtained.  It  is  reported  that  there  was 
great  unity  in  their  deliberations  and  a  remarkable  absence 
of  discord  or  honest  difference  of  opinion.  All  were  im- 
bued with  the  same  patriotic  instincts  and  eacli  strove 
diligently  for  the  common  good.  The  town  meeting  is 
the  ideal  government.  Every  man  speaks  for  himself. 
His  views  are  presented  directly  to  liis  fellows.  Each 
can  learn  from  the  other  by  actual  presence,  sight  and 
hearing,  the  force  of  his  convictions,  his  manner,  sincerity 
and  purpose  are  on  exhibition.  The  opportunity^  for  the 
minutest  investigation  is  had  without  the  intervention  of 
a  representative.     Of  course,  when,  as  in  modern  days,  the 


f)S  250th    ANNTVERSAKY    of     REHOIiOTH. 

populcitiou  of  the  districts  and  cities  becomes  large,  the 
people  must  delegate  their  powers,  in  the  city,  state  and 
nation,  to  act  for  them  in  the  councils,  legislature  and 
congress.  It  cannot  be  controverted,  however,  that  the 
town  meeting  is  the  highest  example  of  the  perfection  of 
a  o-overnment  of  the  people,  by  the  people  and  for  the 
people.  The  number  of  those  who  do  not  attend  are  a 
small  proportion  of  a  town's  inhabitants. 

The  townsman  goes  interested  and  determined  to  act 
as  his  best  judgment  shall  dictate.  As  communities  in- 
crease in  size  and  the  necessity  of  a  government  by  repre- 
sentation arises,  the  keen  attention  of  the  voters  is  diverted 
from  the  subjects  passed  upon.  With  some  one  to  act  for 
them  there  is  no  necessity  to  do  for  themselves,  and  it  is 
too  often  true  that  the  agents  do  not  respect  the  wishes  of 
the  principals.  The  constituency  is  not  infrequently  ig- 
nored by  the  legislator.  In  a  town  meeting  each  man 
represents  himself  and  together  all  represent  the  town. 

The  doings  are  for  what  is  conceived  to  be  the  right. 
No  townsman  meaningly  prejudices  the  town  ;  no  man 
intentionally  robs  himself.  Rehoboth's  people  have  an 
enviable  record  for  their  wise  control  of  her  corporate 
affairs.  There  has  been  no  anticipation  of  alliance  with 
the  cities.  There  has  been  constant  and  close  attention 
on  your  part  to  the  needs  of  the  present. 

Wisdom  has  characterized  your  use  of  the  prerogatives 
of  citizenship.  Fidelity  to  honorable  principles  has  been 
an  inheritance  that  has  equipped  each  generation  for  laud- 
able endeavor  whenever  occasion  has  demanded.  Educated 
in  an  atmosphere  of  honesty  and  integrity,  you  have  sent 
enerc^etic  and  able  men,  who  have  won  wealth  and  dis- 
tinction in  other  fields.  They  have  reflected  credit  on  the 
place  of  their  birth  and  added  strength  and  dignity  to  the 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  69 

homes  (»f  their  adoption.  Tliey  have  been  well  schooled 
in  the  practical  phases  of  life  and  went  adniirabljMiualihed 
to  cope  with  the  l)nsy  throng  whei-ever  fortune  should 
send  them.  At  home  and  abroad  these  people  have  been 
of  the  bone  and  sinew  that  seeks  to  build  firmly,  soundly 
and  enduringly  ;  who  were  content  to  produce  ;  who  aimed 
to  do  all  things  well.  This  firm  solidity  of  character  has, 
in  the  process  of  evolution,  given  us  remarkable  specimens 
of  manhood. 

A  brief  consideration  of  a  few  honored  names  fur- 
nishes us  with  examples  froni  which  we  may  learn  with 
profit. 

The  pronounced  individuality  of  William  Blackstone, 
the  Newmans,  father  and  son,  Roger  Williams,  John 
Myles  and  Thomas  Willett,  has  often  been  recalled.  Far 
in  advance  of  their  times  in  mental  growth  they  have 
come  down  to  posterity  as  marvels  of  consistency.  They 
deprecated  warfai-e,  and  preferred  pacific  means,  but  in 
defense  of  home  they  possessed  that  staunch  courage 
which  braves  all  suffering  with  unswerving  calmness. 
Over  the  grave  of  William  Blackstone  now  stands  an  im- 
posing shaft ;  it  is  inscribed  to  the  first  white  settler  of 
Rhode  Island.  The  tribute  to  his  worth  is  richly  deserved. 
As  the  foremost  illustrious  quartet,  which  included  with 
him  Newman,  Myles  and  Willett,  he  is  rightfully  entitled 
to  all  homage  and  enduring  memory.  This  noble  four,  the 
contemporaries  of  Roger  Williams,  his  firm  friends  and 
close  in  his  counsel  and  esteem,  are  as  notable  exponents 
of  the  cause  of  liberty  as  histor}^  anywhere  discloses. 
The}'  have  not  been  accorded  their  full  measure  of  praise  ; 
their  names  are  not  as  familiar  and  as  oft  repeated  as 
others  who  gave  their  lives  to  the  same  cause. 


70  250th  anniversary  of  kehoboth. 

There  are  other  parts  of  this  commonwealth  better 
known  and  more  generally  spoken  of,  which  have  been 
favored  with  a  continued  recital  of  the  deeds  of  men  of 
glorious  cliaracter,  of  towering  luster,  who  have  brought 
renown  to  their  particular  locality  ;  name  and  place  have 
become  coupled  and  inseperable.  Without  boasting,  but 
with  becoming  modesty,  you  have  the  privilege  of  denaand- 
ing  that  all  hearts  be  turned  with  appropriate  regard  to  a 
lasting  remembrance  of  these  grand  freemen. 

James  Brown,  Obadiah  Holmes  and  John  Hazell  suf- 
fered bodily  for  daring  to  assert  their  mauhood  as  their 
convictions  compelled  them.  They  bore  their  troubles 
stoically,  and  sought  a  refuge  in  Rehoboth,  where  no  man 
was  harassed.  Walter  Palmer,  the  first  deputy  to  Ply- 
mouth court,  was  a  man  of  ripe  judgment  and  great  good 
sense. 

Stephen  Bullock,  judicially  minded  and  able,  repre- 
sented with  great  satisfaction  his  district  in  congress. 
Phanuel  Bishop,  also  in  the  halls  of  the  national  house  of 
representatives,  was  a  wise  and  studious  legislator. 

I  should  like,  if  the  time  permitted  to  speak  of  towns- 
men of  recent  date  of  the  typical  names  of  Pierce,  Bullock, 
Davis,  Horton,  Gotf,  Bliss,  Carpenter,  Miller,  Wheaton, 
Hunt,  Thurber,  Peck,  Robinson,  Perry  and  others,  whose 
acquintance  I  have  enjoyed.  Our  distinguished  chief 
justice  of  the  superior  court,  Albert  Mason,  traces  his  an- 
cestry to  the  Samson  Mason  of  CromweH's  army,  who  early 
settled  liere. 

The  state  of  Rhode  Island  has  elevated  to  the  gov- 
ernor's chair  a  Rehoboth  man  in  the  person  of  "  Honest 
John  Davis."  What  higher  encomium  could  man  desire  ? 
What  prouder  title  could  attacli  to  integrity. 


TirSTOKTCAL    ADDRESS.  71 

You  liiivo  been  .sensible  of  the  value  of  relics  of  for- 
mer days  ;  you  liave  desired  to  preserve  the  nienentos  of 
anti(|uaiian  values.  The  society  you  have  organized  is  of 
inestimable  worth  ;  its  woik  will  nniterially  promote  the 
cause  of  education  in  the  town. 

The  loyalty  of  Dai-ius  Goff  in  defraying  the  greater 
part  of  the  cost  of  this  memoiial  building,  which  takes  his 
name,  cannot  be  too  highly  commended.  His  was  a  char- 
acter fine  and  sensitive. 

Constituted  witli  a  lasting  pride  in  Rehoboth,  he  gave 
freely. 

When  it  became  manifest  that  the  people,  tilled  with 
enthusiasm,  were  bound  to  secure  an  edifice  for  town  pur- 
poses;  when  he  saw  that  a  subscription  from  the  common 
purse  was  gladly  forthcoming,  he  readily  gave  from  liis 
abundance  the  sums  that  made  so  tine  a  structure  possible. 

It  was  the  assurance  that  the  interest  was  general 
that  appealed  to  him  ;  the  fact  that  all  the  people  greeted 
the  idea  with  pleasure,  and  were  ready  to  contribute  as 
their  means  would  allow,  was  to  him  the  convincing  evi- 
dence of  the  wisdom  of  building  largely  and  well. 

Generous  and  wise  man  that  he  was,  he  delayed  not ; 
he  saw  the  people  use  this  building  ;  he  had  the  pleasure 
of  sharing  their  gratification.  Standing  near  the  spot 
where  his  father  before  him  and  his  brothers  with  him 
had  commenced  and  carried  into  execution  the  industry, 
which  in  after  years  had,  in  the  cities,  made  wealth  for 
him  and  employment  for  many,  it  is  indeed  iitting  that  in 
this  hour  of  reminiscence,  we  feel  and  acknowledge  our 
profound  appreciation  of  his  sterling  worth  and  merit.  I 
have  spoken  of   the  all-important  fact   that  must  become 


72  250th  anniversaey  of   eehoboth. 

indelibly  impressed  upon  tlie  mind  of  tlie  reader  of  history 
that  the  Rehoboth  man  is  endowed  with  the  greatest  rev- 
erence for  the  sanctity  of  home;  that  lie  is  unalterably 
opposed  to  oppression. 

Outside  of  the  ordinary  pursuits  of  the  home  and 
farm  he  has  made  his  influence  felt  and  his  w^ord  of  con- 
sequence and  moment.  The  industries  of  Pawtucket  and 
Providence  have  had  substantial  indorseis  in  Rehoboth 
men;  they  have  put  time  and  capital  into  the  channels  of 
business  that  built  up  these  cities  and  caused  them  to 
flourish.  The  first  mill  in  Fall  River  had  subscribers  for 
one-fourth  of  its  capital  stock  from  this  town. 

The  men  of  this  town  have  never  lacked  courage  to 
engage  in  that  which  involves  labor ;  they  are  so  consti- 
tuted that, they  are  not  awed  by  task. 

I  have  endeavored  to  relate,  with  some  attention  to 
their  chronological  order,  the  instances  and  occurrences  of 
their  domestic  life  that  have  seemed  to  me  important.  I 
have  told  of  the  attitude  they  assumed  when  they  have 
suffered  encroachment,  whether  as  a  community  in  par- 
ticular, or  as  a  part  of  our  nation  in  general.  In  the  last 
great  civil  strife,  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  Rehoboth  fur- 
nished her  full  quota  of  men. 

With  a  population  of  fifteen  hundred  souls,  she  sent 
a  goodly  number  to  shoulder  the  musket  for  their  country. 
To  those  of  us  who  recall  the  days  of  that  trying  period, 
it  seems  but  a  short  time  since  the  marching  troo])s  re- 
turned. Back  from  the  horrid  ordeal  of  waLriuLT  cruel 
warfare  against  their  own  countrymen— men  of  the  same 
great  national  famil3%  having  the  same  ambitions,  alike 
honorable,  and  the  eijual  of  any  in  social  and  })()litical 
status.     Divided  on  the  question   of   the   abolition  of   the 


iriSTOKlCAL    ADDKESS.  73 

slave  trade,  one  part  of  the  couiitiy  opposing  another,  sec- 
tional liate  once  aroused,  soon  swept  away  all  thoughts  of 
former  unity. 

The  remembrance  of  their  power  wJien  all  Jiearts 
beat  for  a  mutual  cause,  held  no  power  to  sta}^  the  threat- 
ening storm.  It  was  useless  to  try  to  avei't  the  necessity 
of  a  resort  to  force.  Tliere  was  no  cowardice  on  the  part 
of  either  north  or  soutli.  Since  the  days  of  the  "  Father 
of  his  Country,"  the  southern  suns  liad  beheld  the  colored 
man  the  property  of  his  white  brother,  who  was  not  want- 
ing in  refinement  and  sensibility.  Distinguished  men  who 
had  inherited,  owned,  bought,  bartered  and  sold  the  slave 
in  precisely  the  same  manner  as  otlier  property.  People 
became  habituated  to  their  surroundings  ;  they  grew  ac- 
customed to  the  uses  and  practices  about  them.  By  no 
word  or  argument  could  the  position  of  either  great  sec- 
tion be  made  plain  to  the  other.  The  Union  was  threat- 
ened, it  must  be  preserved. 

The  pitiable  spectacle  of  brother  against  brother  in 
deadly  affray  was  only  terminated  after  bloodshed  3-et 
fresh  in  mind.  The  present  generation  has  eagerly  sought 
a  rehearsal  of  its  every  detail ;  the  world  of  literature  has 
retold  the  story  from  every  standpoint, — the  grim  chron- 
icles having  a  fascinating  interest  to  the  student  of  his 
country's  history. 

The  abhorrent  and  unholy  traffic  in  human  life  was 
forever  sto2:)ped  in  the  "  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of 
the  brave."  Secession  was  prevented;  the  Union  was 
maintained.  The  victory,  however,  had  been  for  principle 
instead  of  power. 

The  proud  privilege  of  wearing  the  button  and  the 
.badge  is  each  year  vouchsafed  to   a  smaller  band.     On 


74  250th  anniveksaey  of  rehoboth. 

each  succeecliijg  observance  of  the  veterans'  holiday  fewer 
liands  there  are  to  place  the  flowers,  and  more  graves 
there  are  to  decorate.  May  Decoration  Day  teach  to  the 
sons  who  take  np  the  fathers'  work,  the  beauty  of  heroic 
love  for  country;  may  it  prove  a  potent  factor  in  inspiring 
us  all  to  deeds  of  loyal  duty  ;  may  the  necessity  of  facing 
the  blight  of  war  again  be  long  postponed.  Thirty  years 
have  since  gone  by, — years  that  have  seen  but  little  change 
in  the  phj^sical  appearance  of  the  town.  Your  population, 
uncentralized,  clings  to  the  localities  identified  with  fam- 
ily tradition.  Surrounded  by  the  evidence  of  the  honor- 
able past^  you  pursue  uninterruptedly  the  vocations  of 
your  choice.  You  have  gathered  and  arranged  in  this 
hall  antique  records  and  relics  that  stimulate  in  us  a  ven- 
eration for  our  fathers.  The  objects  of  interest  carry  our 
minds  to  the  days  when  they  fought  against  dangers  that 
we  shall  never  know.  The  library  is  commemorative  of 
the  free  hearted  and  illustrious  name  of  Blandiug,  and 
contains  the  chronicles  of  trials  bravely  met  and  patiently 
overcome. 

Our  thoughts  are  turned  devotedly  to  the  inheritance 
that  has  come  down  to  us.  Amidst  this  environment 
there  is  inspiration  for  the  future.  The  legacy  that  is 
ours  points  a  golden  pathway  of  promise.  We  live  in  a 
great  epoch  of  improvement.  Science  has  made  great 
discoveries ;  invention  has  rendered,  great  mechanical 
problems  easy  of  solution.  On  every  hand  the  onward 
march  of  civilization  is  observed.  As  the  foremost  nation 
of  the  earth,  we  are  but  yet  in  our  infancy.  Tliere  is 
much  to  be  done  to  render  easier,  more  just  and  equitable, 
the  condition  of  all  men.  The  relations  between  capital 
and  labor  are  not  such  as   the  enlightenment  of  the  cen- 


in  STORK  ;al   adduioss.  75 

tury   requires.     The    extension   of   the  grand    system    of 
arbitration  is  to  be  perfected. 

Great  work  remains  to  be  done  to  limit  the  increase 
of  poverty.  The  control  of  criminality  by  universal  edu- 
cation, and  many  other  great  problems,  are  engrossing 
public  attention.  Science  is  constantly  producing  more 
wonderful  phenomena  and  improvement  in  mechanics  is 
the  order  of  the  day.  Human  ingenuity  has  succeeded  in 
abridging  distance  by  marvelous  advancement  in  the  art 
of  building  conveyances  for  travel  on  land  and  sea.  On 
every  hand  we  see  the  realization  of  projects  that  Jiave 
been  considered  beyond  the  scope  of  man's  ability  to  com- 
plete. Great  as  has  been  our  progress,  it  is  not  within  the 
bounds  of  prophecy  to  predict  with  any  degree  of  accurac}^ 
with  what  success  we  shall  yet  advance. 

The  world  grows  wiser  from  many  trying  experiences. 
Each  disaster  has  its  compensating  lesson.  Every  calamity 
emphasizes  the  method  of  its  prevention  in  the  future.  We 
should  have  few  safe-guards  if  no  accidents  happened  to 
show  their  necessity.  It  is  not  human  to  fortify  against 
that  which  is  not  likely  to  occur.  We  defend  against  the 
things  our  daily  life  has  taught  us  are  liable  to  take  place. 

With  what  success  we  render  our  existence  the  more 
secure  depends  entirely  upon  our  intelligence  as  a  people. 
The  ability  to  take  heed  of  passing  events,  to  utilize  for 
present  employment  and  future  perfection  is  not  an  uni- 
versal gift.  The  men  who  shape  the  policy  of  trade  :  tlie 
minds  that  direct  the  course  of  business,  are  not  equipped 
by  chance.  Hard  and  persistent  work  has  been  the  only 
pathway  that  leads  to  success.  The  thoroughly  reliable 
man  in  whatever  sphere  of  action  has  gained  his  qualifica- 
tion only  through  constant  application.     A  work  that  re- 


70  250th   AKKIVKKSARY    OF    KEHOBOTH. 

([uires  quick  and  decisive  action  cannot  be  properly  per- 
formed by  one  except  he  has  trained  himself  in  each  suc- 
cessive channel  that  leads  to  the  result  he  would  attain. 
Intuitive  genius  and  keen  perception  are  faculties  that  in 
many  amount  to  talent. 

As  auxiliary  accomplishments  they  may  be  of  the 
greatest  service  in  whatever  capacity  they  are  applied. 
Tact,  which  in  its  broadest  cultivation  we  are  wont  to  call 
diplomacy,  is  often  of  a  utility  that  works  benefit  to  the 
cause  in  which  it  is  exercised.  We  often  stand  amazed 
at  the  variety  of  ac({uirements  one  man  raay  posi5ess  ;  we  are 
moved  to  wonder  at  the  facility  wdth  which  he  can  sur- 
mount a  portion  of  the  difficulties  which  are  spread  in  life's 
pathway.  Such  instances  are  numerous  ;  our  admiration 
is  challenged  ;  we  are  pleased  to  contemplate  the  qualities 
displayed  and  are  in  turn  moved  to  regret  the  inadequacy 
of  the  whole  man. 

The  hand  that  points  the  way  in  any  given  line  is 
seldom  conspicuous  by  a  great  array  of  adornments.  The 
efficiency  of  a  well  trained  mind  lies  in  the  equal  distribu- 
tion of  the  qualities  needed.  The  prominence  the  few 
rrif  ts  bring  to  the  possessor  is  dimmed  if  as  an  entirety  he 
is  deficient ;  the  talents  intensify  the  defect. 

There  can  be  no  loftier  work  to  demand  a  town's  at- 
tention than  the  persistent  effort  to  foster  and  promote 
the  fundamental  precepts  that  lead  to  the  grandeur  of 
self-reliant  and  dignified  manhood.  The  safety  and  pro- 
tection of  our  country,  the  perpetuation  of  her  institutions, 
depend  not  alone  on  zeal  and  tireless  energy  :  respect  for 
ju'inciple,  love  of  right  and  truth,  home  and  family,  kind- 
ness, consideration,  sympathy  and  charity  must  be  cherished 
and  not  allowed  to  decay.     There  is  no  place  like  tlie  vil- 


ihSTORICAL    ADDRESS.  77 

anr3  aad  the  town  in  whicli  the  virtues  that  make  suhstan- 

o 

tial  citizenship  can  be  so  well  matured. 

Here  you  have  no  confidence  in  the  base  and  artifi- 
cial ;  you  dismiss  the  counterfeit  and  strive  for  the  true 
and  the  genuine. 

My  friends,  I  commend  to  you  the  continued  reverence 
for  your  ancestors  ;  I  congratulate  you  on  your  present 
material  prosperity  ;  I  bespeak  for  you  further  contentment 
and  happiness  in  the  good  old  town  of  Rehoboth. 


78  260th  anniversary  op  rehodoth. 

Sarripson  Masori, 

Exile  frovz  (Dorchester  i6^y 
Leave  to  sojourn  at  (kehoboth 
(Lee.  g,  i6jy. 

RernarKs  of  Albert  Mason. 

one  of  his  descendants 
Oct,  ^,  i8g4  at  the  celebration 
of  the  2joth  Anniversary  of  the 
settlojient  of  (RehobotJi. 

Citizens  or  Rehoboth  : — 

A  record  which  I  cannot  question,  denies  me  the 
distinction  of  nativity  in  this  historic  town.  My  humble 
claim  of  duty  and  pleasure  to  have  share  in  your  five-fold 
jubilee,  rests  upon  a  simple  vote  of  Rehoboth  passed  Dec. 
9,  1657,  ''  That  Sampson  Mason  have  free  liberty  to  sojourn 
ivith  2^s." 

The  language  is  suggestive  and  significant,  and  truth 
compels  me  to  admit  that  my  ancestor  was  at  that  time 
deemed  unworthy  of  citizenship  in  the  colony  of  Massachu- 
setts. He  was  an  adjudged  heretic  under  sentence  of 
banishment.  He  came  to  you  a  homeless  exile,  and  you 
gave  him  free  liberty  to  sojourn  with  you.  Those  of  his 
faith  who  had  preceded  him  in  Rehoboth  had  not  proved 
altogether  peacemakers,  but  the  broad  spirit  of  tolerance 
which  had  charactized  the  settlement  was  not  exhausted, 
and  it  cheerfully  bore  this  further  test.  Seven  years  before 
the  sturdy  soldier  fresh  from  service  in  the  parliamentary 
army  under  Fairfax,  had  settled  in  Doichester. 

Macaulay  in   that  scathing  paragraph  upon  the  days 


HISTORICAL   ADDRESS.  79 

which  followed  the  restoration  of  Charles  II,  says,  "  The 
o^overnment  lias  just  ability   enough  to  deceive,  and  just 
religion  enough  to  persecute."     The  colony  of  Massachu- 
setts  surely   had  more  than  this  quantum  of  religion,  but 
the  rigid  Puritan,  earnest  for  freedom  to  live  up  to  his  own 
religious  convictions,  was  not  as  ready  to  accord  the  same 
freedom   to  others   as  was   the  separatist  Pilgrim  of  ^tlie 
earlier   colony.     Narrow   formulas   of  doctrine  were  inad- 
equate  to   the  spiritual  thirst  of  the  scholarly  Newman. 
He  sought  less  restricted  means  of  reaching  infinite  stores 
of  truth  in  the  Divine  Word.     He  saw  in  his  experience 
a  likeness  to  that  of  Isaac  when  his  herdsmen  strove  with 
those   of  Gerar  over  successive   wells  insufficient  for  the 
natural  tliirst  of  animals,  until  a  well  was  digged  equal  to 
the  needs  of  all  "  And  for  that  they  strove  not,  and  he  called 
the  name  of  it  Rehohoth  ;  and  he  said,  for  7ioiv  the  Lord  hath 
made    room  for  us,  and  we   shall  he  fruitful  in  the  land."" 
Two  years  after  Newman  and  his  flock  withdrew  to  find 
here  the  Rehoboth  which  he  sought,  the  hard  lines  of  the 
restrictive  puritan  polity  found  embodiment  in  a  standing 
law  of  the  colony,  that  any  who  should  openly  condemn  or 
oppose  the  baptizing  of  infants,  or  should  purposely  depart 
the  congregation   at  the  administration  of  that  ordinance, 
should  on   due   conviction   be  sentenced   to   banishment. 
Sampson  Mason  had  become  a  Baptist  while  in  the  army. 
The  characteristic  tenet  of  the  denomination  at  that  period 
was  not  with  reference  to  the  mode  of  administering  the 
ordinance  nor  the  logical  consequence  of  its  administration 
by  an  insufficient  mode,  but  was  the  doctrine  upon  this 
very  question  of  baptizing  those  incapable  of  assenting  to 
the  spiritual  purification  which  the  ordinance  signified.     I 
trust   it   is   no    surprise    to   those   who   have    known    his 
descendants  in  Rehoboth  and  Swansea,  to  learn  that  what 


80  250th  anniversary  of   rehoboth. 

Sampson  Mason  condemned  or  opposed  he  condemned  or 
'Opposed  openly,  and  that  he  was  obstinate  therein  and 
incurred  the  sentence  oE  banishment.  He  came  hither 
with  his  wife,  Mary  Butter  worth.  They  then  had  three 
sons.  Five  other  sons  and  four  daughters  were  born  in 
Rehoboth.  Ten  years  Later  he  was  of  those  wlio  under  the 
leadership  of  John  Myles  set  up  separate  worship.  At  the 
friendly  suggestion  of  the  court  at  Plymouth,  tlie  church 
gathered  by  Myles  was  transferred  ''  to  some  place  not 
already  in  parish  relations."  This  place  proved  to  be  the 
unoccupied  region  south  of  the  present  Rehoboth,  which 
became  the  town  of  Swansea.  Sampson  Mason  did  not 
remove  to  the  new  town  until  1672  or  later.  In  his  will 
dated  Oct.  22nd  of  that  year  he  is  described  as  of  Rehoboth, 
but  he  gives  to  liis  oldest  son  Noali  "  my  house  which  is 
shortly  to  be  built  in  Swansea  or  that  house  wherein  I  do 
now  dwell,  that  is  to  say,  that  house  which  his  mother  my 
said  wife  shall  order  him  to  take."  Lands  in  Rehoboth 
and  Swansea  were  devised  to  eight  sons  and  due  provision 
made  for  four  daughters.  Sampson  Mason  died  in  1676, 
but  his  widow  lived  to  a  good  old  age  dying  in  1711.  He 
was  the  close  friend  of  his  pastor  John  Myles,  of  James 
Brown,  and  of  John  Butterworth  his  brother-in-law. 
Nearly  all  his  children  settled  in  Swansea  or  Rehoboth  and 
reared  families.  His  numerous  descendants  under  many 
names  have  intermarried  with  nearly  all  the  older  families 
of  Rehoboth,  and  our  kindred  are  beyond  enumeration. 

The  church  established  by  Myles  was  broad  and  cath- 
olic in  its  membership,  but  its  location  was  not  central  as 
the  town  was  afterward  settled,  and  not  many  years  after 
the  death  of  Myles  and  his  immediate  associates,  a  second 
church  was  instituted  wherein  a  still  greater  effort  was 
made  to  gather  a  small  community  not  of  uniform  faith 


JIISTOKICAL    ADDIIESS.  81 

into  one  Cliristiaii  fukl.  Christian  character  only  was 
requii-ed  for  admission  and  no  doctrinal  tests  were  applied. 
A  son  of  Sampson  Mason  was  the  second  pastor  of  this 
church  and  for  more  than  a  century  the  pastorate  was  in 
his  charge  or  that  of  no[)hews  bearing  tlie  family  name. 

Of  my  ancestry  bearing  the  name  of  Mason  in  this 
country,  five  generations  lived  and  died  in  Rehoboth  or 
Swansea,  and  the  remaining  six  had  nativity  in  the 
neighboring  city,  so  kindred  in  origin  and  in  spirit.  My 
great  grandfather,  Noble  Mason,  found  his  wife  Lydia 
Thurber,  in  the  parent  town.  My  grandfather  Aaion 
Thurber  Mason,  returned  hither  to  secure  my  grandmother 
Mary  Bullock,  one  of  whose  sisters  was  the  mother  of 
Darius  Goff  whose  name  is  gratefully  perpetuated  this  in 
beautiful  memoiial  building,  and  another  sister  was  the 
grandmother  of  the  distinguished  ex-governor  of  Rhode 
Island  who  is  to  follow  me.  This  lineage  is  not  ancient 
as  old  world  families  measure  lineage,  it  is  not  famous  as 
the  world  counts  distinction,  but  it  covers  nearly  the 
wdiole  period  of  New  England  life  and  is  intensely  New 
England  in  character.  For  nearly  two  centuries  it  is  in 
and  of  the  local  life  of  this  community,  reflecting  its  quiet 
tone,  and  may  I  not  hope  something  of  its  sterling  quality. 
If  one  may  not  be  proud  of  an  inheritance,  nor  puffed  up 
with  that  which  he  hath  not  earned,  it  is  an  inheritance  in 
which  I  have  much  satisfaction,  and  I  gladly  accept  the 
duty  and  privilege  of  bringing  hither  my  grateful  tribute 
to  the  memory  of  the  founders  of  the  peaceful  haven  which 
the  pious  leader  called  Rehoboth,  in  recognition  that  the 
Lord  had  there  given  him  and  his  flock  emancipation  from 
>strife  and  contention. 

To  the  sainted  Newman,  to  his  loyal  and  liberal  asso- 


82  250th  A^xIVEKSAIlY  or  eehoboth. 

ciates,  and  to  you  their  successors  and  descendants,  1 
return  grateful  acknowledgment  that  Sampson  Mason  had 
free  liberty  to  sojourn  in  Rehoboth. 


-cy^  /^^'^^^^w^ 


Rr\  Address  By    Hon.  JohM  W.  Davis. 

Mr.  Piiesidi:nt  and  Friends   of    Uehoroth:— - 

There  are  no  o-i-eetincrs  so  warm  as  those  of  one's  own 
killi  and  kin,  and  no  homes  so  briglit  as  tliose  of  our 
youthful  recollections,  indeed  with  tlie  full  tide  of  this  day's 
celebration  upon  me,  I  might  falter  in  my  allegiance  to 
my  residential  Town  and  State,  did  I  not  remember  that  in 
part,  Pawtucket  was  once  part  and  parcel  of  that"  Antient 
Rehoboth,"  whose  original  settlement  is  now  within  Rhode 
Island  limits.  In  the  remarks  I  may  submit,  I  purpose  to 
speak  of  "Antient  Rehoboth,"  from  a  colonial  standpoint, 
or  of  "Antient  Rehoboth"  and  her  early  colonists,  as  a 
steppingstone  to  Rhode  Island  and  founders  of  religious 
liberty  in  America. 

Rehoboth, — the  name  we  are  told  implies  a  wide-open- 
roomy-place,  and  for  a  name  I  think  our  fathers  chose  better 
than  they  knew,  for  Rehoboth  proved  to  be  an  open  door 
to  broad  thoughts  and  principles,  as  well  as  an  ample  home- 
stead to  its  colonists. 

Locally,  "Antient  Rehoboth"  bounded  —  approxi- 
mately— upon  a  line  from  Woonsocket  Falls  on  tlie  Blacks 
stone,  to  Dighton's  famous  rock  upon  the  Taunton  river, 
and  included  all  the  lands  southward  to  the  shores  of 
Narragansett  Bay,  Pokonoket,  (which  Ossamequin  and  lii,-: 
sons  had  reserved  for  their  homes,) — only  excepted. 

It  is  not  my  province  to  trace  the  history  of  the  town; 
the  orator  of  this  occasion  and  others  preceding  me  have 
attended  to  that,  but  at  the  risk  of  repeating  "  twice  toUl 
tales"  I  will  venture  some  commentaries  u])on  Relioboth's 


84  250TII   ANNIYEFvSARY   Ol?   REHOBOTH. 

colonists  and  their  characteristics,    in  the  early   days  of 
the  town. 

"  Antient  Rehoboth  "  was  a  sort  of  debatable  border- 
land between  the  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts  Bay 
Cyolonies  upon  the  east  and  north,  and  the  Plantations  of 
Providence  and  Rhode  Island  on  the  west  and  south 
respectively,  to  which,  such  colonists  as  the  '^brethren  of  the 
Bay  "  thought  not  quite  good  enough  to  dwell  witli  them 
in  full  fellowship — but  yet  not  so  wholly  bad  and  lost  to 
grace  as  to  deserve  banishment  to  the  outer  darkness  of 
Rhode  Island — were  suffered  to  come  as  to  a  city  of  refuge 
to  sojourn  for  a  season  with  the  hope  of  light. 

It  is  known  that  for  years  before  the  Pilgrims  came 
to  Plymouth,  voyaging  fishermen  and  traders  had  been 
sailing  up  and  down  these  coasts,  trafQcing  with  the  natives 
and  wittingly  or  unwittingly  by  their  introduction  of  the 
sins  of  civilization  (largely  condensed  in  ardent  spirits 
and  pestilence)  prepared  the  wa}^  for  European  coloniza- 
tion. 

So  too,  before  the  Rev.  Samuel  Newman  and  his  people 
came  from  Weymouth  and  Hingham  into  this  region,  there 
were  pioneers  in  the  land,  frontiersmen,  like  Daniel  Boone 
of  Kentucky,  who  felt  crowded  when  neighbors  came  too 
near,  or  "  had  settled  within  thirty  miles  of  his  cabin." 

Among  the  pioneers  of  "  Antient  Rehoboth  "  was 
William  Blackstone,  famous  for  his  declaration  that  he 
"  left  England  to  be  free  of  the  Lord  Bishops,  and  Boston 
to  be  clear  of  the  Lord  Brethren." 

Blackstone  was  in  no  sense  a  hermit,  but  a  scholarly 
crentleman,  a  priest  of  the  English  Church  and  who  like  a 
patriarch    prophet    of   old  loved  best  to    commune   with 


TTTSTORTOAL    ADDRESfi.  85 

nature  in  God's  solitudes,  (wliicli  were  no  solitudes  to  him) 
for  the  nund  of  the  Creator  in  every  phase  of  nature 
breathed  responsive  to  his  thoughts.  He  eschewed  man 
and  society  not  for  their  humility,  but  because  of  their 
piide  and  pretentions,  as  his  declarations,  (which 
give  us  a  better  insight  into  his  life  and  character  than 
pages  of  history  could  do,)  so  plainly  indicate. 

Roger  Williams  too,  with  his  friends  lirst  came  this 
way  and  planted  within  the  limits  of  what  afterwards  be- 
came Hehoboth.  Having  been  advised  by  Governor 
Winthrop,  his  personal  friend,  (though  unable  to  protect 
him  against  the  prejudices  of  the  "  brethren  ")  to  go  to 
the  Narragansett  Country,  he  came  here  and  supposed  he 
had  found  it  beside  the  tide-waters  of  the  beautiful 
Seekonk,  but  being  warned  by  Governor  Winslow  that  he 
was  within  the  Plymouth  grant,  and  by  him  advised  ("  to 
please  the  brethren-  of  the  Bay  ")  to  cross  the  river,  he  did 
so  to  get  beyond  their  jurisdiction,  and  there  planted  the 
Plantations  of  Providence,  and  then  and  thus  it  was  in 
the  first  instance,  that  Rehoboth  became  a  steppingstone 
to  Rhode  Island,  for  the  founders  of  Christian  freedom,  a 
position  she  after v/ards  industriously  occupied  for  many 
year^. 

Some  have  argued  from  a  few  words  used  by  Williams 
in  an  account  of  his  sufferings  on  his  journey  of  exile,  that 
he  came  to  Seekonk  by  sea,  sailing  out  from  Salem  in  an 
open  sliallop,  with  his  friends  in  mid-winter,  across  the 
boisterous  Massachusetts  Bay,  around  Cape  Cod,  along  the 
treacherous  coasts  of  Malabar,  thence  through  the  then 
little  known  Vineyard  Sound  and  Gosnold's  Islands,  on- 
ward   around   the    twech-rocks  of   Sakonett   and    up    the 


Sr;  2o0tU    ANMNI'ilJSAin'    ok    KlOlloliOTli. 

Narragansett   to   Seekonk,  but    the  imprubabilities  not  to 
say  the  impracticabilities  of  tlie  voyage  discredit  the  theory. 

Bhickstoiie  and  Williams  \Yere  both  notablemen  of 
the  same  colony  and  times,  the}^  knew  each  other  well  and 
were  bound  together  by  the  strong  ties  of  a  common 
calling  and  sufferings.  Men  may  rejoice  together  and  be 
glad,  aye,  feast  and  forget,  but  they  who  together  have 
endured  a  common  hardship  or  suffered  a  grievous  wrong 
are  linked  together  in  bonds  which  naught  but  death  can 
sever,  a  comity  of  feelings  which  bury  all  other  differen- 
ces. With  these  conditions  controlling,  there  can  hardly 
be  a  reasonable  doubt,  but  that  Williams  and  his  followers 
came  direct  from  Salem  to  Blackstone's  home  (which  for 
prudential  reasons  was  not  advertised)  and  from  there 
went  out  to  find  their  own  retreat  upon  the  banks  of  the 
same  beautiful  stream  which  flowed  b}'  the  door  of  their 
friend. 

Blackstone's  home  was.  on  the  east  shore  of  the  river^ 
two  miles  north  of  Pawtucket  Falls,  Williams  planted  on 
the  same  bank  two  miles  below,  why  this  distance  between  ? 
Was  it  as  with  Abram  and  righteous  Lot  that  their  herds- 
men might  not  quarrel  ?  Allow  me  to  suggest  that 
another  was  alread}^  there,  Pawtucket  was  covered  by  the 
homestead  of  John  Hasel,  a  man  like  his  illustrious  neigh, 
bors  (though  not  a  minister)  of  finest  sensibilities  as  his 
subsequent  history  shows. 

When  Hasel  came  to  Pawtucket  we  cannot  tell,  nor 
certainl}'  that  he  was  there  when  Williams  came,  but  we 
ma}^  reasonably  infer  it,  from  the  fact  that  first  comers  into 
a  new  teri'itory,  take  first  choice  of  location,  and  with  the 
due  modesty  of  a  Pawtucket  man,  I  think  it  may  be 
aHowed    me    to    say   that    the   particular    choice  spot    of 


HTS'IOFJCAL    ADDllKSS.  8T 

"  Aiitient  Kehobotli  "'  was  this  self-sunie  Piiwtucket  site — 
John  Hazel  bad  it — "ergo"  ITasel  was  the  first  frontiers- 
man, indeed  it  may  have  been  he  who  [)iloted  BUickstone 
to  his  I'iveiside  home.  Be  this  as  it  may,  certain  it  is  that 
he  was  there  present  as  principal  interlocutorand  witn'esscd 
the  treaty  C)f  John  Biown  and  his  Weymouth  fiiends  with 
()ssame(]uin  (alias  Massasoit)  for  the  township  in  Kill, 
three  years  before  Newman  witli  his  friends  came  to 
Hehoboth— that  he  was  in  Plymouth  in  August  in  1642  to 
give  an  account  of  his  surroundings  and  belongings  in  the 
land,— and  again  in  November  of  the  same  year  he  was 
before  the  Plymouth  Court  and  required  to  profess  his 
allegiance  to  the  colony  and  fealty|tothe  church — require- 
ments upon  the  part  of  tiie  Plymouth  Colony  which 
substantially  give  us  the  key  to  his  status  and  character 
as  one  not  theretofore  of  the  colou}^  or  communion,  but  a 
frontiersman  at  Pawtucket  upon  the  borders  of  the  civil- 
ized settlements 

The  people  of  the  church  of  Mr.  Newman  ratljerthan. 
Newman  himself,  weie  of  the  Pilgrim  of  Plymouth  type 
of  Congregationalists  as  contradistinguislied  from  tliat  of 
the  Puritans  of  the  Bay,  and  that  tliere  was  a  marked 
difference  between  them  every  student  of  New  England 
history  well  knows.  But  marked  as  this  difference  may 
have  been,  that  between  Plymouth  and  Hehoboth  in  the 
same  direction,  (along  the  lines  of  a  broader  Christian 
cbaiity)  was  even  wider,  and  the  reason  for  this  feature 
in  the  Rehoboth  Society  is  readily  traceable  to  their 
antecedents  in  Weymouth — of  which  our  friend  Harris 
from  that  town  has  hereto-day  given  us  an  inkling. 

The  church  in  Weymouth  had  been  a  perturbed 
Society,several  ministers  within  its  brief  existence  had  taken 
it   in  charge,  the  Court  of  Plymouth   had  found  occasion 


88  250th    xVNNlVEESAEY    OF    EEHOBOTH. 

to  iiiterveDe  in  its  affairs,  and  in  1637-8  one  Hazard 
Knollys,  a  Baptist  preacher  from  London  bad  been  in  tbe 
colony  publishing  his  sentiments,  which  took  roc)t  in  tliat 
town,  and  a  church  in  sympathy  with  his  ideas  had  been 
tentatively  organized  there,  thongh  later  snppressed  by 
prudential  measures  of  the  Plymoutli  Court. 

Knollys  retnrnecl  to  England  in  1639 — bnt  his  win- 
nowings  and  siftings  from  amongst  the  Weymouth  and 
Hingham  people  very  generally  joined  in  the  exodus  to 
Rehoboth  and  as  was  natural  they  took  their  predilections 
along  with  them,  the  croppings  out  of  which  later,  gave 
Mr.  Newman  all  his  trouble. 

However,  Newman  if  not  dominant  was  prominent 
among  his  ]jeople,  and  in  1650 — only  six  years  after  the 
settlement  of  the  town, a  complaint  was  lodged  at  Plymouth 
Court  against  John  Flasel — Obediah  Holmes — Joseph 
Tony — John  Spurr — and  others  of  Newman's  parishionei'S 
and  they  were  there  severally  arraigned  for  heresy — but 
the  Court  wiser  than  the  parties  complainant,  contented 
itself  by  administering  monitions,  and  accepting  their 
prisoners  as  bondsmen  for  each  other  (a  sort  of  "round 
robin"  arrangement)  jiermitted  them  to  retui-n  to  their 
Rehoboth  homes  in  peace.  Evidently  the  brethien  of  the 
Ba}^  some  of  them  having  been  parties  to  the  complaint, 
were  indignant  at  this  Plymouth  tolerance,  and  waiting 
their  chance,  to  make  an  example,  in  July  1651 — aiTested 
Obediah  Holmes,  with  two  fiiends — Chirke  and  Crandall 
from  Newport,  R.  I. — at  Lynn,  and  brought  them  to  Boston, 
where  they  were  charged  with  contumacy  and  for  preacli- 
ing  without  a  license  in  Massachusetts,  this  they  did  not 
conceal  or  deny,  and  thereupon  they  w^ere  sentenced — 
Crandall  to  a  fine  of  £5, — Clarke  £20, — and  Holmes  £50 
to  be  paid  on  or  before  the  next  General  Court,  or  in  de- 


HISTORICAL   ADDRESS.  89 

fault  they  were  to  be  severally  severely  whipped — a  most 
unchristian  sentence. 

Subsequently  Ciandall  was  released  under  bonds 
which  were  afterward  paid — Chirke's  friends  rallied  and 
paid  his  fine  for  him,  and  thus  the  Rhode  Island  men  were 
got  off — but  poor  Holmes  of  Rehoboth,  manifestly  had 
more  scruples  than  shillings,  he  refused  to  pay  his  fine  or  to 
allow  others  to  pay  it  for  him  lest  it  should  be  deemed  an 
admission  of  fault  upon  his  part,  he  was  kept  in  jail  until 
October,  then  taken  out,  stripped,  tied  to  a  post  and  most 
inhumanly  whipped,  thirty^  lashes,  blood  springing  at 
every  stroke,  as  was  stated  at  the  time. 

I  know  that  a  statement  like  this  in  the  light  of  to-day 
sounds  questionable,  but  for  its  verity  in  every  particular 
I  cite  you  the  Rev.  Doctor  Benedict's  "History  of  the 
Baptists,"  published  in  1813,  and  the  authorities  quoted 
therein,  Dr.  Benedict  was  for  many  '  years  a  most 
estimable  Baptist  minister  of  Pawtucket,  and  especially 
distinguished  for  his  probity,  charity,  scholarship  and  con- 
scientiousness, and  particularly  was  he  one  who  would  not 
write  without  authority  or  wantonly  color  an  historic  nar- 
rative to  abuse  or  extenuate. 

Among  the  friends  of  Holmes  who  went  from  Reho- 
both to  Boston  to  intercede  for  a  remission  of  the  brutal 
sentence  was  our  own  John  Hasel,  the  veteran  pioneer 
settler  of  Pawtucket,  but  to  his  prayer  both  Church  and 
State  were  obdurate,  and  all  that  he  could  do  was  to  afford 
his  friend  and  neighbor  such  support  and  consolation  as 
the  countenance  of  his  presence  protesting  against  the 
outrage  could  give. 

The  cruelty  of  this  chastisement  and  its  inflic- 
tion cut  Hasel   even  more  keenly  than  it  did  its   more 


90  250th   A^S^NIVERSARY   OF   EEHOBOTH. 

immediate  victim,  and  when  the  tragedy  was  over,  Hasel 
like  the  good  Samaritan  that  he  was,  stepped  forward  in 
the  silence  of  speechless  grief  and  took  Holmes  by  the 
hand.  For  this  expression  of  sympathy — though  he  had 
said  not  a  word — he  was  forthwith  arrested  and  cast  into 
prison,  but  grief  for  him  had  done  its  perfect  work,  the  iron 
had  entered  his  soul,  his  heart  was  broken,  in  prison  his 
mind  wandered,  he  sank  rapidly,  and  his  persecutors  af- 
frighted at  the  result  of  their  diabolism,  hastened  to  turn 
him  out  of  the  prison  house,  but  it  was  too  late,  the  load 
was  more  than  he  could  bear,  and  he  bowed  his  head  and 
died,  in  Boston,  a  victim  of  "  man's  inhumanity  to  man," 
and  so  it  came  that  Obediah  Holmes  shed  the  first  martyr 
blood,  and  John  Hasel  was  the  first  to  lay  down  his  life 
in  martyrdom  for  religious  liberty  in  the  English  Colonies 
in  America,  and  these  men  be  it  ever  remembered,  were  of 
the  pioneers  of  this  ancient  town,  and  friends  and  neighbors 
of  our  ancestors  in  Rehoboth. 

Now,  after  tlie  lapse  of  more  than  two  centuries,  we 
men  of  Rehoboth  and  Rhode  Island  can  look  back  upon 
the  Boston  Puritans  dispassionately,  and  see  tliem  like 
many  other  sectarians  of  their  day,  more  zealous  than  wise, 
forgetting  (if  indeed  they  ever  appreciated  the  import  of 
the  text)  "  veugence  is  mine,"  they  mistook  themselves 
for  God's  vicegerents,  rather  than  Christian  stewards,  and 
honestly  no  doubt,  thought  it  to  be  their  duty  to  stamp 
out  what  they  deemed  heresy,  without  mercy,  and  they 
simply   practiced  what   they  preached. 

Sectarian  feelings,  like  public  opinions  vibrate  from 
side  to  side  as  the  pendulum  of  a  clock,  and  the  Jjigher 
the  swing  in  one  direction,  the  further  the  rebounding 
momentum  will  carry  it  in  tlie  opposite.  In  Boston,  two 
centuries  ago,  the  pendulum  was  swung  away  up  towards 


IirSTORICAL    ADDRESS.  91 

the  nineties  of  bigotry,  superstition  and  intolerance,  to-day 
it  is  at  the  other  end  of  the  arc,  and  nowhere  on  earth  is 
there  larger  liberty  in  religious  opinion  than  in  Boston, 
where  every  phase  of  belief  finds  place  and  scepticism  per- 
chance, too  willing  listeners. 

That  "  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the 
church"  was  never  more  manifestly  exemplified  than  in 
Rehoboth  after  this  Puritan  persecution.  The  people 
were  indignant,  men  went  out  far  into  the  woods  to  meet 
Holmes  and  escorted  him  home  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to 
travel,  but  poor  Hasel  returned  to  his  home  upon  the  banks 
of  the  beautiful  Paw^tucket  no  more,  and  his  vacant  place 
was  a  potent  protest  against  the  great  wrong  perpetrated. 
The  story  of  this  wicked  crime  against  conscience  ran  from 
mouth  to  mouth,  from  colony  to  colony,  crossed  the  great 
sea,  and  from  every  direction  protests  came  echoing  back 
with  bitter  reverberations  and  reproach. 

Holmes,  Torry  and  others  left  Rehoboth  and  went  to 
Newport,  where  Holmes  lived  and  officiated  acceptably  as 
a  Baptist  minister  for  thirty  years  thereafter. 

But  while  many  left  Rehoboth  as  a  steppingstone  to 
Rhode  Island,  others  came  in  across  her  borders  from  out- 
side, and  Quakers,  Baptists  and  Independents  began  to 
abound  upon  every  hand,  while  the  church  of  Newman 
was  filled  with  troubles.  Indeed  it  seemed  as  if  the  Baptist 
leaven  of  Hasel,  Blackstone  and  Williams  earlier  "free 
soul"  plantings  in  the  soil  of  the  town  and  permeated  the 
entire  earth  and  people,  until  all  were  leavened  with  the 
liberal  faith. 

It  is  said  that  at  the  close  of  the  great  conflict  of  the 
States,  President  Lincoln  w^as  asked  who  of  all  his  generals 


92  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

he  esteemed  greatest,  to  which  that  wise  man  character- 
istically answered,  "  the  General  People  "  they  who  had 
without  stint  or  question  responded  to  every  demand  upon 
their  patriotism.  So  it  was  in  "Antient  Rehoboth"  in  her 
days  of  trial ;  and  where  all  did  well  it  would  be  invidious 
to  single  out  names  for  distincton,  but  for  illustration  of 
Rehoboth's  characteristics  we  may  recall  a  few  examplars. 

John  Brown,  if  not  an  ancestor,  was  an  antitype  at 
least  of  him  "whose  soul  is  marching  on."  Though  always 
himself  a  loyal  Pilgrim  Churchman,  he  gave  unmistakable 
evidence  of  the  strain  of  his  blood,  spirit  of  independence, 
Christian  charity  and  courage  of  conviction,  by  bravely 
standing  up  in  Plymouth  Court  and  protesting  against  an 
enforced  collection  of  church  rates  in  Rehoboth.  Being 
himself  an  assistant  of  the  Court,  he  pledged  his  estates 
and  honor  to  make  good  for  seven  years  any  deficiencies  of 
voluntary  contributions  for  the  support  of  public  worship  in 
Rehoboth,  and  had  his  pledge  allowed,  and  though  he 
died  in  1662  his  name  has  never  wanted  for  an  honored  rep- 
resentative in  the  Town,  State  and  Nation  his  wisdom  did  so 
much  to  develop.  Richard  Bullock  was  another  to  protest, 
and  so  too  was  Thomas  Willett  of  whom  our  orator  has  so 
kindly  spoken.  The  Pecks,  Joseph  and  his  brothers,  were 
eminent  exemplars  of  the  same  line  of  thought,  and  the 
descendents  of  all  these,  generation  by  generation  have 
maintained  it,  and  made  their's,  honored  names  to  bear. 
Sampson  Mason,  a  stalwart  Cromwellian  soldier,  ancestor 
of  the  Judge  here  present,  came  into  this  town  in  1657 
and  lent  the  weight  of  his  great  energy  to  the  cause  of 
religious  freedom,  and  I  need  not  add,  that  his  posterity 
have  been  honored  amongst  us  and  through  all  the  land 
wherever  they  dwell  as  the  best  of  citizens. 

In  1663,  the  year  that  Parson  Newman  died,  John 


HISTORICAL    ADDRESS.  9^ 

Myles,  a  Baptist  preacher  from  Wales,  came  with  Nicholas 
Tanner,  Eldad  Kingsley  and  others  of  his  faith,  to  the 
little  colony  of  *'Antient  Rehoboth"  and  found  shelter  from 
the  persecutions  in  their  own  far-away  land.  As  an  indi- 
cation of  the  kindly  disposition  of  the  church  of  the  town, 
Myles  though  not  in  full  fellowship,  was  invited  to  preach 
at  stated  seasons,  in  the  public  meeting  house,  and  did  so, 
holding  forth  a  liberal  fellowship  to  all  professed  Christian 
worshippers,  as  subsequently  his  church  in  Swansea  did, 
and  has  ever  done,  and  this  catholicity  of  spirit  has  ever  since 
obtained  witli  the  ancient  parish  church  of  Rehoboth,  as  a 
whole,  what  differences  soever  may  at  times  have  divided 
its  members  among  themselves. 

But  outside  of  ancient  Rehoboth,  all  were  not  like 
charitably  minded.  The  brethren  of  the  Bay  felt  scandal- 
ized at  these  conditions  in  this  town,  and  Plymouth  though 
exercised  in  mind  and  faith,  took  a  conservative  course  to 
rid  herself  of  Rehoboth's  infidelity.  But  to  do  so  instead 
of  expatriating  the  Baptists  as  the  Bay  colony  had  done, 
she  set  off  to  the  recalcitrants  that  goodly  southern  district 
of  "Antient  Rehoboth"  which  was  incorporated  in  1667  as 
ths  town  of  Swansea,  so  named  for  John  Myles'  former 
home  in  Wales,  or  otherwise  to  state  the  case,  Plymouth 
as  a  peace  offering  divided  Rehoboth  almost  equally  be- 
tween the  Baptist  and  Congregationalist  Communions  of 
the  settlement,  to  reconcile  the  people  to  live  in  good 
neighborhood. 

Of  course  the  reason  of  this,  the  love  of  peace  and  chari- 
ty,was  not  avowed  in  the  aet ;  (the  true  reasons  for  acts  of 
legislation  are  rarely  ever  avow^ed.)  None  the  less  that 
was  the  underlying  cause,  of  which  the  town  of  Swansea 
was  the  result  and  though  not  all  betook  themselves  to 
locations   in    accordance    with    their  thus  localized  senti- 


94  250th   ANNIVERSi^KY   OF   REHOBOTH. 

ments,  the  general  trend  of  individual  opinions  were  in 
those  directions,  as  is  indicated  in  the  Judge's  citation 
from  the  will  of  his  ancestor,  so  aptly  stated  here  to-day. 

A  few  years  later  in  King  Philip's  war,  Capt.  Michael 
Pierce  of  Weymouth,  (being  in  sympathy  with  Swansea 
and  Rehoboth  sentiments  and  interests,  )  came  to 
their  assistance,  and  fought  the  great  fight  of  the  Plain, 
as  our  orator  has  to-day  told  us.  Indeed  it  was  a  fight 
worthy  of  an  epic,  a  battle  to  the  death,  a  fight  which  for 
courage  and  devotion  had  hardly  a  precedent,  or  repetition 
until  in  our  own  time,  Custer  and  his  command  fell  upon 
the  plains  of  the  upper  Missouri,  a  victim  of  like  strategy 
at  the  hands  of  the  same  wild  race.  But  though  Capt. 
Pierce  fell,  he  left  a  vigorous  posterity  who  later  settled 
in  the  town  their  father  had  sacrified  his  life  to  save,  and 
his  descendants  inheriting  his  spirit,  have  in  all  their  gen- 
erations been  distinguished  for  their  energy,  enterprise  and 
intelligence,  and  a  good  examplar  of  his  tribe,  I  am 
pleased  to  note  is  the  honored  president  of  this  Society, 
now  in  the  chair. 

About  1690  Jacob  Barney  Jr.  of  Salem,  where  in  his 
youth  he  had  listened  to  Roger  Williams,  and  later  in  life 
been  one  to  assist  in  establishing  the  First  Baptist  Church  in 
Boston,  came  with  his  family  via  Newport  to  Rehoboth,  and 
purchased  a  large  tract  of  land  on  Torry's  Creek,  west  side 
of  Palmer's  River  near  the  Swansea  Line,  where  he  settled, 
and  some  of  his  descendants  still  occupy  their  ancestral  acres 
in  the  village  of  Barneysville.  The  descendants  of  this 
family  like  the  others  named  have  been  noted  for  their 
energy,  industry  and  enterprise,  and  one  of  them,  our  orator, 
has  to-day  honored  us  as  an  excellent  examplar  of  his 
family  blood,  "may  their  shadows  never  grow  less."  I 
ought  to  observe  in  passing  from  these  family  names,  that 


HrSTORICAL    ADDRESS.  95 

the  Masons,  Pierces  and  Barneys  liave  been  noted  for  the 
clergymen  they  have  raised  up  in  their  generations,  and 
all  with  the  single  exception,  (so  far  as  I  can  now  recall) 
of  the  Kev.  James  O.  Baj  ney  who  so  long  graced  the  pas- 
torate of  the  Newman  Church,  Baptists  and  Independents 
in  doctrine  or  sentiments. 

While  speal{ing  of  clei-gymen  I  think  I  ought  to  say 
a  word  of  the  Rev.  Elhanan  Winchester,  who  in  1771  was 
settled  over  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Rehoboth,  and 
long  before  the  churches  in  Boston  had  evolved  the  broad- 
er charities  of  Unitarian  Christianity  from  Trinitarian 
Calvinism,  Winchester  had  become  convinced  in  his  own 
mind  of  the  final  reconciliation  of  all  men  to  God  through 
Christ,  and  bravely  begun  to  preach  this  doctrine  here  to 
his  people.  His  sentiments  however  were  not  acceptable 
to  his  parish  as  a  whole,  and  he  was  dismissed.  But  being 
an  able  preacher  he  did  not  want  for  "calls"  and  proceed- 
ed to  journej^  through  the  Colonies  and  in  England, 
disseminating  his  faith  with  great  acceptance.  Though 
Winchester  had  left  Rehoboth  his  ideas  had  taken  root 
here  and  grew,  and  while  never  dominant,  the}^  have  ever 
been  prominent  Christian  sentiments  of  Rehoboth  people. 

This  be  it  remembered  was  in  1771,  the  same  year  in 
which  Hosea  Ballon  tbe  patriarch  preacher  of  Universalism 
was  born,  and  thus  we  see  Winchester  io  Rehoboth  had 
preceded  this  worthy  by  a  full  generation.  This  I  men- 
tion to  show  that  the  intellect  of  Rehoboth  was  of  old 
alert,  and  even  in  advance  of  the  religious  thought  of  the 
age,  and  it  is  not  undue  to  say  that  Universalism  as  a 
theology  has  done  as  much,  if  not  more,  to  promote  Chris- 
tianity and  subvert  bigotry,  than  almost  any  other  sect, 
a  good  personal  examplar  of  which  in  faith  and  practice  I 
am  glad  to  see  upon  this  stage,  and  to  in  this  way  recog- 


96  250th    ANNIVEESAEY   OF    EEHOBOTH. 

nize  my  friend  the  Hon.  Nathaniel  B.  Horton,  who 
honors  a  family  name  than  which  none  stands  higher  in 
the  town. 

The  proximity  of  Rhode  Ishmd  undoubtedly  contrib- 
uted to  make  ancient  Rehoboth  the  questionable  border 
ground  that  it  was,  which  while  politically,  always  loyal 
to  Plymouth  and  the  Bay,  was  yet  ever  in  religious  senti- 
ments, more  in  harmony  with  the  larger  liberties  of  Rhode 
Island,  with  whose  people  their  most  intimate  business 
and  social  relations  subsisted.  In  such  relations  "  Antient 
Rehoboth  "  and  Rhode  Island  were  like  two  rooms  in  the 
same  house,  occupied  by  different  families  indeed,  but 
separated  only  by  the  thinnest  of  political  portieres  and  in 
kindred  the  families  were  so  intimately  connected  and 
blended,  that  morally  and  religiously  they  were  as  one. 

The  intensity  of  the  alike  distress  and  disgust,  of 
Massachusetts  at  these  conditions  in  Rehoboth.  is  well 
illustrated  in  the  "motif"  of  certain  transactions  con- 
nected with  the  settlenient  of  the  town  of  Bristol,  which 
though  unwiittcn  history,  is  none  the  less  true  as  devel- 
opments show. 

When  at  the  close  of  King  Philip's  War,  Pokonoket, 
(over  which  though  tl^^  Rhode  Island  Charter  painly  cov- 
ered it, the  weight iei  Colony  of  Plymouth  had  always  assert- 
ed and  maintained  jurisdiction,)  came  by  conquest  to  the 
English,  a  stiife  arose  between  Plymouth,  Rhode  Island 
and  Massachusetts,  as  to  which  should  have  final  juiisdic- 
tioii  over  the  territory,  the  dispute  was  referred  to  the 
King,  who  assigned  it  to  Plymouth,  notwithstanding  liis 
grant  to  Rhode  Island.  Whereupon  four  notable  men  of 
Boston,  of  whom  Nathaniel  Bytield  was  one,  in  the  inter- 
est of  Puritanism  hastened  down  to  Plymouth,  and  bought 


NATHANIEL    B.   HORTON. 


mSTOlUCAL    ADDRESS.  97 

fur  XllOO  the  entire  tract,  and  though  naturally  it  sliouhl 
liave  been  municipally  joined  with  Swansea,  these  men  of 
Boston   ignored  that  town,  as  they  did  Rehoboth,  as  apos- 
tate, and  at  once  established  a  new  township  which  they 
named  Bristol,  and  proceeded  to  organize  and  support  it 
at    considerable    personal    inconvenience    and    expense. 
Byfield  was  chosen   Moderator,  (which  practically  meant 
mastership)   of  the  first  Town  Meeting  and  a  rate  of  fifty 
pounds  was  voted  for  the  first  year,  (forty  pounds  for  the 
use  of  the  church,  and  ten  for  all  other  purposes,)  all  of 
this  indicated  the  drift  of  their  purpose  to  establish  Bristol 
as  a  sort  of  outer  wall  of  defense  for  Massachusetts,  against 
the  heresies  of  Rhode  Island,  a  kind  of  religious  redoubt  at 
the  front,  or  missionary  bulworkfor  the  salvation  of  Swan- 
sea and  Rehoboth.     Of  course,  as  it  was  in  the  case  of  the 
incorporation  of   Swansea,  the  purpose  was  not  avowed, 
nonetheless,  these  were  the  reasons,  and  Bristol  the  result, 
of  these  reasons  practically  enforced.      To  give  the  town 
dignity  and  influence  to  the  ends  sought  to  be  established, 
it  was  made  the  Shire  Town  of  the  County,  which  too  was 
called  Bristol  and  included  all  the  territory  east  of  the 
Blackstone,  whose  waters  drained  towards  Narragansett 
Bay,  and  substantially  covered  about  all  of  southern  Mass- 
achusetts, and  these  political  conditions  so  remained  from 
1680  to  1746,  when  the  King's  Commissioners  established 
the   compromise  line   which  gave  about  an  equal  part  of 
the  territory  in  dispute  to  each  Colony. 

Of  Nathaniel  Byfield,  the  leader  of  the  proprietors  of 
ancient  Bristol,  it  deserves  to  be  said  that  he  was  not  only 
a  zealous  Puritan  and  successful  merchant,  but  a  generous 
hearted  and  public  spirited  citizen.  When  he  left  Bristol 
and  returned  to  Boston  which  he  eventually  did,  he  en- 
dowed a  school  in  Bristol,  which  still  bears  his  name,  and 


98  250TPT   ANNIVERSARY   OF   EEHOBOTH. 

is  yet  a  flourishing  institution,  and  an  honor  to  the  donor 
and  to  the  town.  It  was  at  this  school  that  Benjamin  West 
(a  son  of  Rehoboth)  the  distinguished  mathematician 
mentioned  here  to-day  was  educated.  Nor  yet,  after 
Byfield  had  left  Bristol  did  he  lose  or  abate  his  interest 
in  education  and  the  Puritan  church,  but  reaching  out 
from  Boston  he  endowed  a  parish  and  school  in  Essex 
County,  Massachusetts,  (this  school  was  long  a  principal 
feeder  of  Harvard  University)  and  the  parish  took  and 
still  bears  his  name,  the  Byfield  Parish,  covering  the 
greater  part  of  the  towns  of  Newbury,  Georgetown  and 
Rowley.  I  was  privileged  to  attend  a  Sabbath  service  in 
the  church  there  last  year,  and  found  it  in  every  particular 
a  typical  development  of  the  ancient  New  England  Puritan 
Meeting,  and  an  honor  to  one,  who,  though  he  did  not 
admire  the  religious  polity  of  "  Antient  Rehoboth  "  or 
Rhode  Island,  was  yet  one  of  God's  noblemen.  All  honor 
then  to  Nathaniel  Byfield,  the  founder  of  Bristol. 

As  to  the  disputed  boundaries  between  Rhode  Island 
and  Massachusetts,  which  grew  out  of  these  religious 
piques  and  prejudices,  I  may  be  pardoned  if  I  trespass  up- 
on your  time  to  speak  of  them. 

Plymouth  Colony  deriving  its  right  of  domain  from 
the  British  Government,  claimed  jurisdiction  over  all 
lands  between  Cape  Cod  and  Narragansett  Bays  as  theirs 
by  charter  grant,  while  Connecticut  from  the  same  British 
source  was  granted  all  lands  south  of  Massachusetts,  and 
westward  of  the  Narragansett.  These  claims  left  only  the 
islands  in  Narragansett  Bay  and  a  small  section  (not 
much  larger  than  ancient  Rehoboth)  between  the  Paw- 
tucket  and  the  Pawtuxet  rivers  at  the  head  of  the  bay 
uncovered.  Roger  Williams  with  his  friends  occupied 
this  latter  tract  in  1636,  and  called  their  homes  the  Prov- 


HISTORICAL   ADDRESS.  99 

idence  Plniitiitions.  Clarke,  Coddington  and  others  set- 
tled upon  the  bay  islands  in  1G38  and  called  tlieniselves 
Rhode  Islanders. 

Now  the  staunch  religious  polity  which  environed 
these  two  little  settlements,  was  of  the  same  fellowship, 
which  under  Cromwell  in  1649  bad  beheaded  Charles  I. 
and  established  the  "  Commonwealth  "  which  titular  gov- 
ernment (*'  Commonwealth  ")  was  adopted  and  is  still 
retained  by  Massachusetts.  Now  so  it  was  that  when 
Charles  II.  came  back  to  occupy  the  throne  of  his  fathers, 
although  for  the  sake  of  his  kingdom  he  had  promised  to 
forgive  his  adversaries  (with  a  few  exceptions)  he  evident- 
ly did  not  forget  them,  and  when  Williams  who  had  been 
exiled  from  Salem,  and  Clarke,  were  sent  over  to  England 
in  Rhode  Island  interests,  they  met  a  personal  friend  in 
Sir  Henry  Vane  (who  as  before  stated  had  been  ostracised 
from  Massachusetts  in  1686,  but,  who  was  now  in  Eng- 
land, and  a  power  at  Court)  and  through  him  they  got  the 
willing  ear  of  Charles  II.  who  gave  them  for  their  Col- 
onies of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations,  the 
most  liberal  charter  of  all  the  royal  grants,  and  upon  points 
of  boundary,  provided  that  the  mouth  of  the  Pawcatuck 
River  should  be  Connecticut's  Narragansett  limit  eastward, 
hence  all  that  large  part  of  Rhode  Island  between  the  Paw- 
catuck and  the  Pawtuxet  Rivers  was  long  colloquially 
known  as  the  King's  Province,  having  been  practically  the 
gift  of  the  King. 

By  the  same  charter  strangely  indefinite  bounda- 
ries were  named  as  Rhode  Island's  north-easterly  limits, 
so  indefinite  indeed  that  the  late  Rufus  Choate  once 
characterized  them  as,  "  as  untraceable  as  Samson's 
foxes  with  fire-brands  at  their  tails. "  If  fairly  fol- 
lowed  these   bounds   would    have    left   "Antient   Reho- 


100  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

both"  with  Dighton,  Freetown  and  Fall  River  almost 
wholly  to  Rhode  Island  ;  possibly  it  was  the  King's  intent, 
(or  more  probably,  Vane's  intent)  so  to  do,  as  a  sort  of 
left-handed  compliment  or  sinister  reminder  to  the  more 
Puritan  Colonies,  which  had  taboed  him.  Be  this  as  it 
may,  these  charter  bounds  were  so  manifestly  in  violation 
of  the  earlier  Plymouth  grant,  that  that  colony  stoutly 
resisted  them,  with  the  support  and  aid  of  Massachusetts, 
for  more  than  eighty  years.  But  the  Kingly  prerogative 
was  popular  in  England  and  the  people  of  Rhode  Island 
and  Providence  Plantations  steadfastly  leaned  upon  it, 
until  the  Royal  Commissioners  as  stated  in  1746-7  ran  the 
compromise  line,  dividing  the  debatable  ground  between 
them . 

Rhode  Island  small  as  she  is  to-day,  is  thus  seen  to 
have  been  much  smaller  in  her  beginnings,  and  may  fairly 
be  said  to  have  been  wrenched  out  from  between  Con- 
necticut and  Massachusetts,  providentially,  in  connection 
with  *'Antient  Rehoboth"  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 
Christian  freedom  in  America,  and  like  a  diamond  between 
an  upper  and  nether  mill-stone,  she  has  impressed  her 
character  upon  her  surroundings,  and  brightened  with 
the  grind. 

Rhode  Island  is  indeed  a  small  State  to-day,  though 
if  measured  by  population,  productive  industry,  wealth 
and  intelligence  she  is  by  no  means  the  least  in  the  Union, 
but  small  as  she  is,  she  was  that  particular,  State  of  the 
old  thirteen  which  had  the  moral  courage  and  strength 
of  will,  alone,  to  stubbornly  stand  out  single  handed,  and 
refuse  to  ratify  the  Federal  Constitution,  or  enter  the 
Union,  mainly  because  her  cherished  principle  of  relig- 
ious liberty  had  not  been  guaranteed  in  that  compact,  nor 


,  HrSTORTCAL    ADDRESS.  101 

would  slic,  nor  did  she  ratify  the  Constitution  or  enter 
the  Union  until  the  amendment,  now  known  as  "Article 
I.  of  Amendments,"  prohibiting  Congress  frona  establish- 
ing any  particular  church  or  religion  by  law,  and  guaran- 
teeing free  toleration  to  all,  had  been  by  Congress  duly 
propounded  and  its  adoption  practically  assured,  then 
Rhode  Island  ratified  and  entered,  the  thus,  and  by  her 
made  consolidate  national  Union,  with  the  dogma  of  re- 
ligious liberty,  (the  sheet  anchor  of  the  little  State,  to 
which  our  "Antient  Rehoboth"  had  been  the  stepping- 
stone,)  the  law  of  the  Nation  and  the  hope  of  mankind. 
For  all  of  which  under  God's  Providence  (magnifying 
the  work  of  the  humble)  our  ancestors  of  this  town  (with 
Rhode  Island)  are  entitled  to  reverential  thanks. 

I  have  no  time,  nor  if  I  had  would  it  be  proper  for 
me  to  continue  this  discussion.  I  have  already  trespassed 
too  long.  "Antient  Rehoboth"  is  a  rich  field  for  study, 
and  her  sons  and  daughters  whether  here  or  in  sister 
towns  may  well  be  proud  of  their  ancestors'  record,  and 
the  blood  in  their  veins.  Here  for  full  two  and  a  half 
centuries  our  fathers  of  all  faiths  have  lived  together  in 
peace  and  harmony,  and  thanks  to  their  Civil  Laiv 
and  Christian  righteousness,  no  act  of  ecclesiastical 
diabolism,  bigotry,  perfidy  or  infamy  stains  their  escutch- 
eons. 

But  kinsfolk  of  mine,  allow  me  a  few  words  of  our 
own  more  immediate  surroundings  and  belongings  in  our 
Rehoboth  of  the  present. 

Here  within  the  confines  of  the  present  town,  our  fa- 
thers came  and  dispossessed  a  race,  living  in  primeval 
simplicity  and  dependent  almost  wholly  upon  Nature's 
bounty.     Here  within  Rehoboth's  dark  woods  the  last  and 


102  250th  anni versa ky  of  rehoboth. 

best  great  chief  of  the  Wamponoags  (Philip's  counselor) 
Annawan,  bowed  himself  to  the  cruelties  of  fate,  a  captive 
in  the  land  of  his  fathers,  was  taken  hence  by  aliens  to 
his  race  and  betrayed  to  his  death,  a  victim  to  the  civilized 
barbarism  of  his  times,  and  his  great  "unhewn  rock"  rifted 
and  broken,  "here  within  our  borders"  fitly  perpetuates 
his  fame.  Here  upon  these  hillsides  and  along  these  val- 
leys our  fathers  for  more  than  two  centuries  have  planted 
corn  in  springtime  with  hope,  and  harvested  in  autumn 
with  thanksgiving. 

Here  upon  the  hearthstones  of  these  quiet  country 
homes,  our  mothers  through  ten  generations  have  kept 
their  household  fires  sending  up  perpetual  iucense  to 
Heaven,  in  gratitutde  for  benedictions  received,  and  for 
us  who  have  wandered,  our  fathers'  thresholds  have 
spanned  ever  open  doors,  and  mothers'  fire-lights  glowed 
warm  welcomes  to  our  return. 

Let  us  be  just  too,  to  the  soil  once  tilled  b}^  our  sires 
even  though  to  our  sorrow  v/e  now  view  fields  of  historic 
industry  abandoned,  aye,  the  surface  of  our  town  is 
written  all  over  with  ruined  stone  fence  walls,  eloquent 
in  their  silence  of  the  prosperity  and  industry  of  other 
da3^s,  and  protesting  as  earnestly  as  written  language  can 
protest  against  the  neglect  of  their  whilom  enclosures. 

The  wild  woods  in  many  places  are  creeping  over  pas- 
ture lands  and  meadow  ground,  fallow  field  and  orchard 
lots,  and  even  crowding  upon  the  carriage  way  along 
the  roadsides.  Here  where  once  all  trades  and  handicrafts 
found  place,  no  echo  now  reverberates  the  voice  of  many 
once  busy  industries.  The  hum  of  spindles  and  cackle  of 
looms  once  resounding  the  employ  of  thiifty  youth  and 
adult  age  of  both  sexes,are  hushed  in  the  valleys,the  waters 


IIISIOIUCAL   ADDRESS.  103 

of  our  streams  once  turned  to  toil,  now  run  idly  to  the  sea, 
and  the  merry  voices  of  the  workers  are  silent  upon  the 
hills.  The  banks  of  the  river,  southward,  once  at 
niglitfall  in  spring-time,  wont  to  reverberate  the  jocund 
merriment  of  fishers,  who  came  from  all  the  country  round 
to  cast  their  nets — alike  inhopeand  sport — are  silent  now, 
and  even  the  waters  have  been  despoiled  of  those 
abundant  finney  stores,  which  came  annually  to  bless  the 
tables  of  the  homes  of  this  town,  in  our  earlier  days. 
Here  within  my  own  recollections  close  upon  our  southern 
border  the  shipyard  of  Mason  Barney  (the  honored  grand 
sire  of  our  orator)  to  which  Rehoboth's  timber  principally 
contributed,  used  to  launch  two  ships  each  season,  the 
building  of  which  gave  employ  to  scores  of  men,  the  echoes 
of  whose  labors  made  the  air  for  miles  around  vocal  with 
the  music  of  mallets,  the  ringing  of  hammers,  the  rasp  of 
the  saw  and  thud  of  the  maul,  but  all  this  too  has  passed 
away,  the  old  Esquire  whom  everyone  knew  and  respected, 
after  a  long  life  of  great  enterprise  and  untoward  vicissi- 
tudes, has  gone  to  his  fathers,  his  employees,  axe-men 
and  adz-men,  tree-nailers  and  caulkers,  top-sawyers  and 
pit-men  are  mouldering  with  the  dust  of  their  toils,  as 
silent  as  the  echoes  of  their  industry  and  the  ships  they 
built,  which  once  sailed  every  sea  the  wide  world  round, 
have  been  swept  from  the  face  of  the  ocean,  leaving  no 
vestige  to  tell  the  story  of  their  voyaging,  save  perchance, 
here  and  there  some  wreck  bleaching  on  the  sands  of  a 
distant  shore.  So  too,  the  brave  men  of  Rehoboth  who 
once  so  proudly  sailed  them,  are  fast  fading  from  sight, 
leaving  naught  but  the  traditions  of  their  brave  exploits 
and  bold  enterprise  as  a  heritage  to  the  town. 

And    of   the  old  ship-yard    itself  there    is   nothing 
left  to  mark   the    spot,  as   it   was,  save  only  the  deserted 


104  250th    ANi^lVEESARY   OF  REHOBOTH. 

wharf,  the  bridge  and  the  river  slumbering  in  the  bosom  of 
green  meadows  and  woodbinds.  Yes,  the  river's  refluent 
tides  still  ebb  and  flow,  their  stinted  meets  and  bounds 
as  of  old;  and  its  shimmering  surface  still  gleams  and 
glistens  in  the  summer  sunlight,  or  wave  toss  at  eventide, 
dances,  frolics  and  wantons  to  the  kiss  of  the  fragrant 
in-coming  south-sea  winds,  as  in  days  that  are  gone.  Truly 
*'  men  may  come  and  men  may  go  "  but  tides  and  winds 
abide. 

Now  what,  pray  tell  me  what,  are  the  lessons  of  these 
transitions  ?  There  is,  tliere  can  be  but  one  answer . 
They  are  the  results  of  an  evolution  of  depopulation, 
coupled  with  the  developments  of  mechanical  invention, 
to  which  Rehoboth  b}^  reason  of  her  local  situation  has 
been  unfavorably  subjected.  Fixed  as  she  is  midway 
between  the  great  cities  of  Providence  and  Pawtucket 
upon  the  west,  and  Taunton  and  Fall  River  upon  the  east, 
each  within  an  easy  half  hour  drive  of  her  borders,  with 
busy  Boston  and  wealthy  Newport  not  far  distant  upon 
the  north  and  south  respectively,  each  and  all  great  mael- 
stroms of  humanity,  standing  with  ever  outstretched  arms 
beckoning,  inviting,  soliciting  and  beguiling  the  young 
manhood  and  womanhood  of  this  town  to  come  to  their 
all-consuming  embraces,  "'Tis  true,  and  pity  'tis,  'tis 
true,"  too  many  have  listened  to  the  song  of  the  sirens  for 
their  own  good,  or  the  good  of  their  heritage  in  this  town. 

But  let  the  good  old  town  and  her  citizens  take  cour- 
age from  this  time  forth,  brighter  days  are  uprising  for 
Rehoboth,  even  now,  the  horizon  is  all  astreak  with  the 
daybreak  of  a  better  morrow.  By  evolution  Reliobotli  lost^ 
by  evolution  she  shall  recover.  City  life  is  artificial,  and 
unsatisfactory,  in  its  struggles  a  few  succeed  but  the  mul- 
titude go  down,  and  were  the  city  populations  not  contin- 


HISTORICAL   ADDRESS.  105 

ually  recruited  with  fresh  country  blood,  they  wouki 
die  out  as  fires  for  want  of  fuel.  Tlie  denizens  of  cities 
are  now  realizing  this,  and  all  who  can,  are  seeking  coun- 
try homes  with  hope  to  perpetuate  a  posterity  who  may 
enjoy  the  fortunes  they  have  accumulated.  More  than  this 
the  people  of  the  country  are  realizing  their  advantages 
and  turning  their  attention  to  their  own  more  immediate 
opportunities,  even  now  the  current  evolution  is  progres- 
sing. Wherever  we  look  about  this  town  to-day  we  see  new 
homes  building,  each  better  than  the  old,  with  new  barns 
of  fourfold  capacity  of  those  which  served  our  fathers,  all 
of  which  testifies  that  the  climate  of  Rehoboth  is  whole- 
some, and  the  soil  of  her  fields  yet  fertile,  and  only  wait- 
ing the  renewed  upturn  of  the  ploughshare  and  a  kiss  by 
the  sun,  to  smile  again  with  harvests  as  of  old. 

With  nature's  resources  abundant  to  support  fivefold 
her  present  population,  with  broadening  developments 
yet  to  come  to  her  through  better  roads  and  the  possibili- 
ties of  electric  transportation,  with  all  that  it  implies,  Re- 
hoboth from  her  commanding  position  here  midst  the 
cities  ma}^  become  not  only  their  market  garden,  but  a 
garden  of  New  England  residential  homes.  In  that  day 
the  cities  upon  her  borders  may  beckon  and  solicit  Reho- 
both's  sons  and  daughters,  but  they  will  beckon  and  so- 
licit in  vain. 

A  few  words  more  and  I  am  done.  Within  the  last 
century  the  fields  of  mechanical  invention  and  philosophic 
discovery  have  been  explored  beyond  the  seeming  proba- 
bility of  like  further  developments.  With  steam  to  speed 
our  feet,  and  the  lightnings  our  messenger,  with  great 
iron  liviathans  bridging  the  ocean  and  linking  continents 
and  islands,  shore  to  shore,  with  wires  surcharged  with 
intelligence  girding  the  earth,  and  breathing  reponsive  to 


106       250th  AKNIVEKSAEY  OF  EEHOBOTH. 

tlie  life  of  its  remotest  corners,  it  would  seem  as  if  little 
more  could  be  looked  for  along  like  natural  lines  in  pro- 
o-ressive  phj^sics,  although  undoubtedly  much  yet  remains 
to  be  developed ;  hence  future  inquiries  will  needs  be  di- 
rected to  those  mental  realms,  which  even  in  the  light  of 
what  we  think  civilization  are  yet  darkly  clouded. 

He  would  be  a  bold  man  who  should  affect  to  fore- 
cast the  future,  or  presume  to  paint  conditions  which  may 
here  obtain  when  Rehoboth  shall  celebrate  her  next 
quadra-millenial.  I  shall  not  attempt  it,  but  let  us  hope 
that  the  progress  of  the  future  may  out-do  that  of  the 
past,  as  we  have  many  reasons  to  think  it  will.  I  believe 
we  are  on  the  verge  of  greater  intellectual  changes  and 
evolutions  than  the  i^ast  has  shown,  and  if  perchance  on 
that  next  centennial  day,  aught  of  us  or  of  our  conditions 
is  remembered  and  studied,  the  contrasts  developed  will 
be  almost  immeasurable,  and'the  darkness  of  even  our  day 
and  civilization  will  seem  to  our  posterity  surprising,  in 
the  light  of  their  then  better  knowledge,  conditions  and 
wisdom. 

It  was  declared  of  old  by  Him  who  knew  wherof  He 
affirmed,  "that  the  seed  of  the  woman  shall  bruise  1the 
serpent's  head;  "  I  have  faith  in  the  promise,  I  know  the 
exegesis  with  which  the  problem  is  clerically  discussed,  but 
choose  to  take  a  broader  view.  What  is  the  seed  of 
woman,  but  woman's  work  and  influence  upon  our  race, 
and  now  after  centuries  of  waiting,  the  time  seems  nearing 
when  by  the  uplifting  power  of  education  and  better 
opportunities,  woman  shall  take  her  place  as  the  vindicator 
of  humanity,  an  arbiter  whose  power  the  lords  of  the  race 
must  respect.  Already  she  is  the  teacher  of  the  coming 
generation  of  manhood  and  womanhood,  as  never  before, 


HISTORICAL  ADDRESS.  107 

and  her  influence  with  tliera  tlirougli  tliese  opportunities 
is  unbounded. 

Think  you,  that  when  another  quadra-millenial  shall 
have  rolled  its  circling  centuries  round  for  this  ancient 
town,  that  God-fearing,  man-loving  woman,  enfranchised 
and  cultivated,  refined  and  powerful,  will  consent  to,  or 
tolerate  in  her  consort  sex, the  barbarisms  she  to-day  suffers 
him  to  commit.  I  tell  you  nay,  nor  will  the  educated  and 
enfranchised  woman  of  the  coming  centuries  countenance 
in  man  the  vices  she  instinctively  abhors  in  woman,  again 
I  tell  you  nay,  but  by  that  power  which  to  woman  has 
been  given,  to  make  of  man  what  she  will,  or  compel  him 
to  live  an  outcast  forever,  she  will  be  able  to  crush  out 
the  evil  and  develop  the  good  in  her  fellow  being,  as  the 
skilled  gardener  destroys  weeds,  that  corn  may  grow. 
Thus  woman  casting  her  seed,  by  her  work,  influence  and 
opportunity,  will,  little  by  little  as  the  years  go  by,  lift 
both  herself  and  her  fellow  man  up  to  higher  levels  and 
better  conditions  than  obtain  today,  or  than  our  ancestors 
ever  dreamed  of,  and  so  onward  progressing,  until  she 
becomes  the  herald  she  was  intended  to  be,  of  "Peace 
on  earth,  good  will  to  men."  Then  indeed  the  seed  of 
the  woman  shall  have  bruised  the  serpent's  head,  as  has 
been  promised. 

The  churches  and  people  of  this  ancient  town  have 
chosen  well  in  these  latter  years  to  commemorate  the 
virtues  of  their  sires  by  annual  festivals  in  endurance, 
as  contrasted  with  a  festival,  the  most  solid  of  all 
architectural  monuments  fail  to  compare,  the  cities  of 
Egypt,  built  of  stone,  substantial  and  once  thronged  with 
civilized  life,  are  now  lost  in  the  dust  with  their  builders' 
the  pyramids  crumble  with  decay,  and  no  man  can  tell 
their  story,  the  obelisks  are  obliterate,  the  sphinxes  silent 
as  the  ledges  from  which  they  were  hewn.     But  the  feast 


108  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

of  the  Passover,  ordained  to  commemorate  the  deliverance 
of  the  first  born  of  Israel,  is  yet  celebrated  wherever  an 
intelligent   congregation   of  Hebrews  sojourn,   and  such 
congregation   do  so  sojourn  in  every  civilized  city  the 
wide  world  round,  as  witnesses  of  God's  goodness  to  man. 
So   too,  the  monuments  and  temples  of  ancient  Greece 
and  Rome,  temples  only  within  the   shadows  of  which, 
Peter  and  Paul  were  permitted  to  proclaim  the  mission 
and  life  of  the  Redeemer,  all  now  lie  low  in  ruins  and  for- 
getfulness,   but  the  feast  of  the   Last  Supper  instituted 
to   commemorate  the  passion  and  resurrection   of  Him, 
whom  Peter  and  Paul  so  humbly  preached,  is  now  cele- 
brated by  every  enlightened  nationality  of  the  globe.     So 
too,  let  us  commemorate  this  ancient  town  and  the  virtues 
of  our  sires  by  festival.     What  though  in   our  day  she 
may  have  been  an  humble  town,  and  we  her  children  an 
humble  people,  what  though  our  walks  in  life  may  have 
been  alloted  to   us  along  the  valleys,  and  our  town  never 
have   stalked  strident  along  the  hilltops  of  modern  pros- 
perity and  renown,  as  some  of  her  sister  towns  have  done  ? 
we  love  her !   nonetheless,  we  love  her !    the  milk   and 
corn   of  her  herds  and  breasted  hillsides  nourished  us  in 
youth,  the  lint  and  wool  of  her  fields  and  flocks  clothed, 
aye,  literally  clothed,  her  roof-trees  sheltered  and  her  fire- 
sides warmed,  and  more  than  all  else,  the  dust  of  those 
who  were  nearer  and  dearer  to  us  than  all  others  lies  bur- 
ied in  her  soil,  then  perish  the   heart,  forever  perish  the 
heart  that  shall  forget  to  honor  this,  the  town  of  his  fa- 
ther's hope  and  toils,  or  fail  to  speak  his  mother's  praises 
in  the  land. 

Then  friends,  let  us  and  our  posterity  as  we  would 
lienor  God,  our  parents  and  ourselves,  year  by  year  in 
autumn  come  up  to  this  ancient  town,  in  the  season  of  the 
roasting  ears,  and  as  to-day,  together  eat  the  harvest  liome. 


HISTOllICAL   ADDRESS. 


109 


Hon.  Edwin  C.  Pierce,  of  Providence,  R.  I. 

Mr.  President^  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

The  lateness  of  the  hour  admonishes  me  that  I  must 
detain  you  only  a  few  minutes,  although  on  an  occasion 
so  inspiring,  and  in  a  company  like  this,  where  all  are  re-- 
lated  by  the  ties  of  common  tradition,  and  very  many  by 
kinship  of  blood,  not  so  remote  that  it  cannot  be  traced, 
pregnant  thoughts  would  easily  frame  themselves  into 
words  upon  the  lips  of  even  the  most  unaccustomed  speaker. 

I  come  to  this  spot  to-day  out  of  filial  loyalty  to  the 
memory  of  Samuel  Newman,  the  founder,  of  whom  I  am  a 
lineal  descendant  on  my  mother's  side,  in  the  seventh  gen- 
eration. I  am  equally  proud  to  claim  descent,  like  your 
honored  chairman,  from  that  Captain  Michael  Pierce,  of 
Scituate,  who  with  his  band  of  New  England  Spartans, 
among  whom  were  citizens  of  Rehoboth,  died  on  the  bed 
of  honor  a  few  miles  from  here,  in  defence  of  all  the  set- 
tlements in  the  Old  Colony. 

The  early  settlers  of  New  England  were  distin- 
guished, in  an  eminent  degree,  by  courage,  both  moral  and 
physical,  and  by  perseverance.  They  had  for  conscience 
sake  separated  themselves  from  an  established  church, 
some  of  their  ministers,  like  Newman,  giving  up  comfort- 
able livings  in  that  church. 

They  had  left  their  native  land  and  crossed  a  stormy 
ocean,  and  had  made  their  homes  in  a  wilderness.  They 
were  surrounded  by  forests  peopled  by  barbarians  upon 


110  250th  anniveesary  of  eehoboth. 

whose  peaceful  disposition  they  could  never  reckon,  and 
who  attempted  their  destruction. 

I  need  not  recount  to  you,  their  descendants,  the 
story  of  the  fortitude  and  perseverance  of  those  ancestors 
of  ours. 

From  the  New  Englanders  of  to-day  are  demanded 
also  heroic  qualities,  although  their  foes  and  their  trials 
are  of  a  different  sort  from  those  of  their  fathers. 

The  dangers  and  the  problems  of  political  corruption, 
of  intemperance,  of  the  just  acquisition  and  distribution  of 
wealth,  the  unifying  in  one  harmonious  citizenship  of  im- 
migrants of  various  nationality  and  creed,  these  it  is  that 
confront  the  New  Englanders  of  to-day. 

Let  them  face  these  dangers  and  these  problems  not 
only  with  courage  and  perseverance,  but  with  confidence. 
As  the  perils  of  the  wilderness  did  not  daunt  our  fathers, 
let  their  children  face  the  perils  of  civilization  with 
unquailing  hearts. 

Let  them  cherish  their  fathers'  faith  in  God  and  have 
faith  in  their  own  great  destiny. 

There  is  no  occasion  for  New  Englanders  to  lose 
confidence  in  themselves,  or  doubt  the  future  success  of 
their  institutions  or  their  enterprises. 

The  cities  which  crown  the  hill-tops  of  New  England, 
while  they  present  problems,  are  on  the  whole  in  whole- 
some and  hopeful  condition.  They  are  destined  to  be 
cities  of  the  light. 


250tl\  flriniversary 


POEM-- 


THOMAS   W.    BICKNELL. 


UKKilNAL    POEM.  U^ 


fln    Origirial    Poenri 

I<Y     THt).MAS    W.     lilCKNELL. 


EHRLY   PILGRIMS. 

Wc  meet  where  ancient  altar  lii-es 
Were  kindled  by  ancestral  siren, 
And  grateful  homage  here  we  pay 
To  worthies  of  an  earlier  day. 

Our  Mecca  this,  a  sacred  shrine. 

Made  holy  by  the  Face  Divine  ; 

Our  Salem,  where  with  joyful  lays 

The  tribes  once  met  for  prayer  and  praise. 

'Twas  Israel's  wont,  atZion's  seat, 
The  story  and  the  song  repeat 
Of  captive  days,  of  grand  release 
From  rharaoh's  bonds  to  Canaan's  peace. 

They  sang  again  sweet  Miriam's?  strains 
That  echoed  over  Goshen's  plains; 
As  horse  and  rider  filled  the  sea. 
"Jehovah  triumphed  gloriously. ■" 

At  Marah's  springs  tliey  drank  anew, 
Till  bitter  w^aters  sweeter  grew ; 
'Neath  Elim's  palms  they  slaked  then  thirst 
And  gained  new  strength  by  days  of  rest. 

Across  the  desert  sands  they  stray,— 
Their  guide  the  pillared  cloud  by  day  ; 
In  darksome  uight,  the  stars  their  tent, 
O'eraching  God's  high  firmament. 

Fi'e  yot  the  Promised  Fiand  tlioy  s|)y. 
For  Egypt's  leeks  and  corn  they  cry  ; 
E'en  Joshua's  speecli  of  fruitful  vines 
And  corn  and  Avine  are  empty  signs. 


114  250th   A^'NIVEllSAIlY   OF   KEHOBOTH. 

But  on  they  press  at  Moses'  word, 
And  reach  the  Sacred  Mount  of  God, 
Where  blessed  anew  with  Law  and  Love, 
They  pledge  their  faith  in  Heaven  above. 

Through  Moab's  land,  past  Nebo's  cave 
AVhere  Israel's  leader  found  his  grave; 
His  strength  still  new,  his  vision  bright, 
He  rested  there  'neath  Heaven's  sweet  light. 

"On  Jordan's  stormy  banks  they  stand," 
And  view  their  Canaan,  promised  Land, 
Its  waters  feel  their  Master's  wand 
And  swift  obey  His  great  command. 

These  earlier  Pilgrims  find  their  home. 
Where  God  has  made  them  plenteous  room ; 
The  rocks  yield  honey,  milk  their  kine. 
They  seek  His  precepts  all  divine. 

To  the  high  theme  of  Pilgrim  days, 
In  modern  lands,  our  thoughts  we  raise. 
And  trace  the  path  the  fathers  trod. 
Who  lived  and  walked  and  died  with  God. 


FROM  OLD  TO   NEW, 

stout  of  heart  and  strong  of  hand. 

Were  the  men  who  journeyed  from  old   Enghmd, 

Who  broke  the  chains  of  a  despot  king, 

And  with  freemen's  shouts  made  the  welkin  ring 

"Charles  is  a  tyrant,"  they  boldly  said. 
And  under  the  banners  of  Cromwell  led, 
These  sires  of  ours  won  their  spurs  of  yore. 
On  Naseby's  fields  and  at  Marston  Moore. 

The  King  of  Kings  was  their  leader  then  : 
They  feared  no  foes  of  the  sons  of  men. 
But  forth  to  battle  and  death  they  went, 
As  unto  some  holy  sacrament. 

Some  called  them  Koundheads  as  in  scorn  ; 
Others  named  them  Puritans  and  low  born. 
Both  they  confessed  and  proudly  chose 
I'o  die  with  these  than  to  reign  with  those, 


OKIGIXAL    I'OE.M.  US 

A  stern  resolve  tired  tliese  noble  men, 
Their  faith  in  God  well  served  them  tlieii  ; 
"We  had  rather  brave  the  new  world's  fears, 
Than  to  dwell  on  a  soil  sown  with  bitter  tears. 

This  laml  of  our  birth  is  now  desolate, 

The  Chnrch  is  corrupt  and  worse  the  State. 

We  will  not  bow  to  an  earthly  crown 

That  tramples  the  laws  of  God's  kingdom   down. 

Across  the  seas  in  the  Golden  West, 
Lies  a  newer  land  where  the  soul  may  rest. 
Where  the  foot  of  the  tyrant  has  never  trod, 
And  with  freedom  of  faith  we  may  worship  God.'* 

The  Mayflower  brought  of  the  choicest  stock; 
They  planted  their  feet  on  Plymouth  Rock. 
The  seed  of  three  realms  was  the  freight  they  Ijrouglit 
In  that  little  ship,  men  counted  naught. 

I  see  her  prow^  as  it  parts  the  waves 
To  the  land  of  the  free  from  a  land  of  slaves  ; 
A  pillar  of  cloud  was  their  guide  by  day, — 
The  lamp  of  Hope  led  their  nightly  way. 

How  strange  was  the  sight  that  met  the  view 

Of  these  pioneers  to  a  land  so  new  ; 

The  shores  and  the  woods  like  the  waves  were  wild, 

For  Nakire  alone  on  these  scenes  liad  smiled. 

'Twas  God's  dear  welcome  alone  they  sought, 

As  into  this  wilderness  they  brought 

Their  wives  and  children  and  household  stulf  ; 

With  the  Church  and  the  School  they  were  rich  enough. 

But  list  to  the  sound  that  floats  on  the  air; 
Methinks  it's  the  chorus  of  praise  and  prayer 
That  rises  from  hearts  in  that  cabin  lone. 
And  mingles  and  sw^ells  at  God's  high  tlirone. 

This  promised  land  they  hold  in  trust, 
To  Heaven  they  pledge   allegiance  first  ; 
Then  with  their  faith  in  fellow  man, 
They  knew  not  race  nor  creed  nor  clan. 


1lr»  2;j0th  annttkrsary  of  rEiTor.oTtt. 

These  tenets  bold  the  Pilgrims  gave, 

As  principles  the  world  to  save. 

The  winds  took  up  the  bold  refrain, 

And  swept  them  westward  o'er  the  main,— 

Till  o"er  the  land  Columbus  saved 
And  seized  from  out  the  western  wave, 
One  song  shall  till  all  souls  with  praise, 
And  crown  earth's  latest,  sweetest  days,  . 
"The  brotherhood  of  man  maintain, 
The  Fatherhood  of  God  jiroclaim." 


ON   THE  iVLHRCH. 

Out  of  the  East,  ere  the  sunrise,  in  the  dawn  of  colonial  story, 
While  the  red  streaks  of  the  morning  were  lighting  the  plains  and  the  forests, 
Gatl-iered  the  neighbors  at  Weymouth  to  speak  their  good-byes  at  the  fording. 
Late  yester-night  it  was  ordered  the  march  should  begin  on  the  morrow. 
Prayers  had  been  offered  at  hearthstones  and  around  the  old  Weymouth  puli)it. 
Newman,  the  elder,  their  leader,  was  to  be  of  the  new  flock  their  shepherd. 
To  lead  to  the  pastures  of  Seekonk, beside  the  still  waters  of  Blackstone. 
Trusty,  the  Indian  guide,  who  knew  the  long  trail  through  the  forests, 
Knew  where  the  camps  should  be  made  and  the  Titicut's  stream  could  be  forded, 
Knew  where  the  ale  wives  swarmed  and  the  nuts  had  been  stored  by  the  squirrels, 
Knew  where  the  goose  laid  its  eggs,  and  the  hedgehogs  fashioned  their  burrows ; 
Knapsacks  strapped  to  their  backs,  and  their  horses  well  laden  with  baggage, 
Clothing  from  over  the  seas,  and  stores  from  old  Wessagussett  ; 
Men  astride  English-bred  horses,  and  women  on  pillions  behind  them, 
Babes  on  their  arms  or  their  backs,  and  barefooted  children  as  footmen. 
Narrow  the  trail  through  the  woods  that  leads  to  the  Western  horizon, 
Where  these  first  pilgrims  shall  rest,  on  the  march  to  the  farther  Pacific. 
Oreen  and  mossy  the  carpet  that  is  spread  o'er  the  floor  of  great  Braintree  ; 
Sweet  are  the  songs  of  the  Robins,  and  the  redwing  is  joyous  with  music  ; 
The  catkins  are  green  on  the  willows,  and  brilliant  the  blush  of  the  maple  ; 
The  mayflowers  are  modest  as  maidens,  and  the  cowslips  drink  gold    from  the 

brooklets. 
Onward  they  make  their  way,  with  serious  mood,  yet  glad-hearted, 
Looking  with  hope  for  the  day  when  their  future  new  home  should  be  sighted 
Near  to  the  land  of  Mosshassuck,  on  the  borders  of  blue  Narragansett, 
Where  Williams,  the  exile  from  Salem,  had  made  an  asylum  for  freemen. 
Early  their  first  camp  they  made,  in  sight  of  the  blue  Massachusetts, 


OPJ(!TNAL    POEM.  Il7 

Beddetl  beneath  the  pines  near  the  watei's  of  the  white-itebbled  Mashjiau*?. 

Early  next  clay  on  the  trail  they  meet  with  the  Chief  Metaeoniet, 

Sagamore  now  of  the  tribe  that  rules  over  waved-washed  Sowamset. 

Welcome  he  gives  to  the  band,  which  holds  in  its  girdle  the  legend 

Written  by  Massasoit,  their  deed  to  the  broad  AVannamoisett. 

Royal  the  Puritan  i)ageant,  the  redface  now  leads  the  procession, 

Winding  across  the  plains  till  Titiciit's  waters  are  forded. 

The  camp  Is  set  for  the  night  with  Indian  warriors  for  sentries. 

Near  the  great  hill  on  the  south,  where  later  the  beacons  were  lighted. 

Joy  fills  the  heart  of  the  people,  for  well  they  know  on  the  morrow 

They  wnll  feast  on  the  bivalves  of  Seekonk  and  drink  from  the  waters  of  r.lack- 

stone. 
On  the  third  day  ere  the  nightfall,  they  reach  this  land  of  their  purchase. 
Hei"e  Samuel  Newman,  the  elder,  now  well  within  his  possessions, 
(Iratefully  pours  out  his  soul  in  a  prayer  of  deepest  devotion. 
Voicing  the  hearts  of  his  church  in  the  wilderness  here  to  be  planted, 
Sacredly  sets  up  his  standards  and  christens  this  new  land  Rehoboth. 
"For,"  said  the  Puritan  leader,  "This  is  the  land  full  of  promise. 
Here  hath  the  Lord  led  his  fiock  to  the  pastures  and  waters  of  plenty, 
Its  name  shall  henceforth  be  Rehoboth,for  here  there  is  room  for  onr  planting. 
Mother  of  towns  shall  she  be  and  of  churches  so  true  and  so  faithful, 
Blest  of  the  Lord  in  the  life  which  here  on  these  plains  we  have  i)lante(l." 


THE  CHURCH  AND  HOME  IN  THE  WILDERNESS. 

Across  the  years  and  lives  of  men, 
The  Church  and  home  liave  welcome  been ; 
Each  in  its  sphere  a  power  for  good — 
A  power  more  felt  than  understood. 

Each  near  the  other  found  its  place, 
The  Home  for  life  ;  the  Church  for  grace. 
Like  sentries  firm  their  watch  towers  stand 
To  guard  the  treasures  of  the  land. 

The  earliest  thought  of  Newman's  flock 
Was  planted  first  on  Plymouth  Rock; 
But  seed  like  this  finds  ready  root 
In  soils  that  tempt  no  other  fruit. 


118  250th   ANNlVERSi^RY   OF   KEHOBOTH. 

At  Providence,  across  the  tide, 
Brave  Williams  and  his  church  abide. 
There  exile  saints  and  sinners  meet 
At  freedom's  common  mercy  seat. 

At  Study  Hill,  Blackstone's  retreat, 
The  hermit  settler  thinks  it  meet 
To  flee  the  priestly  lord  of  men  ; 
And  tyrant  more — the  lord-brethren. 

On  Seekonk's  plains,  in  sweet  accord, 
With  these  true  followers  of  the  Lord, 
Samtiel,  the  seer,  of  English  blood, 
Reveres  the  oracles  of  God. 

He  plants  the  church  on  corner  stone, 
Where  priest  and  prophet  meet  in  one. 
He  rears  the  humble  Bethel  roof 
On  soil  that  thirsts  for  Heaven's  own  truth. 

The  sacred  desk  he  weekly  fills. 
And  from  his  lips  Heaven's  dew  distills  ; 
The  hourglass  tests  the  sermons's  lengtli; 
Its  doctrines  try  men's  faith  and  strength. 

Two  preachments  on  each  Sabbath  day, 
A  week-day  lecture,  grave,  not  gay — 
Discourses  suited  to  an  hour 
When  men  must  hew  their  w\ay  to  power. 


NEWMAN  RED  HIS  FLOCK, 

Teacher  and  pastor  w'as  our  Newman,  too, 
His  hands  some  task  were  always  near  to  do. 
Tlie  sick  had  healing,  comfort  the  distressed, 
The  dying  solace  and  the  weary  rest. 

To  feed  his  flock  the  pastor  must  be  fed, 
Himself  must  lead  to  pastures  rich  with  bread, 
God's  word  to  him  was  daily  manna  blest, 
Newman's  Concordance  tells  the  story  best. 


OlMdlNAL    roEM. 


110 


With  axe  or  liannner  ecjiial  was  his  skill, 

As  with  the  faithful  hut  relentless  quill. 

He  wrought  by  day  ;  no  midnight  oil  he  burned, 

Because  forsooth  pine  knots  were  all  he  earned. 

His  salary  was  fifty  pounds  a  year  ; 
His  work  was  broad,  yet  many  called  it  dear. 
That  ancient  flock  had  need  of  various  care 
A  modern  pastor  ne'er  would  try  or  share. 

He  led  the  sheep  by  pastures  fair  and  large, 
The  lambs  he  nurtured  as  a  shepherd's  charge. 
The  Church  was  foremost,  yet  in  things  of  State, 
He  oft  was  called  the  town  to  moderate. 

Physician,  too,  he  knew  the  art  and  skill 
To  practice  with  the  knife  or  murderous  pill. 
A  Judge  he  was,  in  suits  not  always  civil. 
The  case  went  hard  that  savored  of  the  devil. 

The  meeting  house,  (juite  like  the  pastor,  too, 
Had  uses  for  all  times  and  seasons  new. 
Its  high-backed  pews  concealed  the  deacon's  nod, 
Who  bowed  to  Somm^s  while  he  worshipped  God. 

The  sounding  board  high  o'er  the  pulpit  tower. 
Resounded  with  the  preacher's  vocal  power, 
While  on  town  meeting  days  the  county  squire, 
Set  all  the  town  ablaze,  with  lungs  on  fire. 

The  galleries  above  were  tilled  with  youth 
Who  went  to  meeting  more  for  fun  than  truth  ; 
The  tithing  man,  though  patient  as  a  rule, 
Found  here  a  task  as  hard  as  keeping  school. 

The  Church  and  State  united  here  in  one  ; 

The  pulpit  was  the  forum  and  the  throne. . 

All  human  wrongs  were  righted  at  this  court; 

They  prayed  and  quarreled  when  tliej'-  came  to  vote. 

The  deacon's  hat  crown  was  the  voter's  box, 
Where  every  freeman  cast  his  w^ritten  prox. 
The  kangaroo  and  ballot  were  unknown, 
The  seeds  of  ballot  stufifing  were  not  sown. 


120  250th    ANKIVEBSARY    OF  BEHOLOTH. 

'Tis  well  to  call  it  consecrated  groiuul, 
Where  men  and  deeds  of  primal  stock  are  found, 
Old  Seekonk's  plains,  though  waste  as  a  Sahara, 
Are  hrilliant  yet  as  diamond-decked  tiara. 

For  here  the  Church  has  stood  the  centuries'  shock, 
And  round  her  hearthstones  many  a  loyal  flock 
Has  gathered  since  the  days  of  "forty-three," 
To  make  the  Church  and  State  both  strong  and  free. 

Newman,  the  scholar,  was  their  leader  then, 
A  true-horn  son  of  God  and  king  of  men. 
Across  these  fields  his  active  pathway  lay, 
"Allured  to  brighter  worlds  and  led  the  way."" 

Tlirice  blessed  he  who  saw  that  early  day, 
Before  these  times  when  saints  hunt  heresy  : 
Who  made  his  doctrines  square  and  orthodox. 
Because  forsooth,  there  was  no  other  dox. 

'Twas  Father  Xewman  to  the  elder  men, 
And  Parson  Newman  to  the  younger  clan. 
He  taught  true  faith,  great  hope  and  charity, 
Untrammelled  by  the  weight  of  a  D.  D. 

A  fiery  chariot  like  Elijah's  train, 

As  carrier  for  this  sacred  servant  came  . 

"Angels  your  office  do,''  his  latest  word. 

And  mounted  heavenward,  toward  the  throne  of  Clod. 

Time  fails  to  tell  of  grand,  heroic  souls. 
And  women,  too,  bright  stars  on  history's  rolls; 
Wlio  lived  and  labored,  loved  and  journeyed  on, 
From  life's  bright  morning  till  its  setting  sun. 

Who  set  the  standards  of  our  later  times 
Of  honest  service  and  of  well-earned  dimes  : 
Who  sought  not  honors  nor  earth's  poor  reward. 
But  rightecuis  living,  richest  gift  of  God. 

Around  us  are  their  sons  who  run  the  town  : 
Their  names  are  Peck  and  Allen,  Hunt  and  Brown, 
Walker  and  Martin,  Carpenter  and  Bliss, 
Cooper  and  Holmes,  and  lots  of  names  like  this. 


ORIGINAL   VOEM.  121 

Palmer,  whose  name  our  shadowy  river  bears  ; 

Devill,  who  left  a  multitude  of  heirs  ; 

Whcaton  and  Inoram,  Miller,  Ide  ami  Peck. 

With  Bowen,  Bucklyn,  Payne,  near  Wachemoquit  Neck. 

John  Brown,  the  statesman,  born  a  gentleman, 
Who  served  his  God,  by  serving  common  men  ; 
Lover  of  freedom,  both  in  Church  and  State, 
A  noble  man,  a  faithful  magistrate. 

Plandjng  ai;d  BoswortU,  Daggett,  Smith.and  Bullock  ; 
Perry  and  Fuller,  Mason,  Grant  and  Woodcock  ; 
Good  men  and  true,  their  wives  and  children  all 
In  truth,  as  good  as  any  since  the  Fall. 

Brave  Thomas  Willett,  Captain  of  the  State, 
Standish'S  successor,  with  fame  as  great, 
W}io  laurels>von  at  old  Manhattan's  town, 
And  at  Kehobotli's  feet  did  lay  them  dowp. 

Peace  to  their  ashes,  resting  'neaththe  sod 
Of  yonder  graveyard  ;  souls,  they  rest  in  God. 
Living,  they  come  to  cheer  our  burdened  way, 
And  lift  our  souls  to  Heaven's  eternal  day. 


THE  FIRST  BHPTISM.  OF  BLOOD  AND  FIRE, 

The  wilderness  now  Jias  been  vanquished, 
The  wild  brier  was  fragant  in  June, 

The  cornfields  were  bright  for  the  harvest, 
And  the  farmers  were  resting  at  noon. 

When  lo,  on  the  southern  horizon, 

A  storm  cloud  quick  threatens  the  land. 

'Tis  charged  with  the  lightning  of  vengeance, 
From  the  hearts  of  a  barbarous  band. 

From  the  heights  of  his  throne,  Metacomet 

Has  marshalled  his  forces  for  war  ; 
Their  tomahawks  sharp  for  the  conflict. 

The  torch  and  the  knife  gleam  afar. 

The  camp  fires  are  kindled  on  Montaup, 
And  over  the  Titicut  shines 
The  beacon  which  rouses  the  red  man,— 
Its  omen  the  white  man  divines. 


122     250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

Across  the  blue  Narragausett 
Caiionchet  his  warriors  has  sent  ; 

Their  cheeks  are  now  fresh  with  the  war  paint, 
The  blood  of  the  Pilgrims  they  scent. 

The  roses  are  blooming  at  Seekonk, 
Their  red  is  the  omen  of  blood  ; 

The  moon  was  eclipsed  in  the  evening. 
Was  this  a  strange  message  from  God  ? 

A  runner  has  come  from  old  Swanzey, 
The  warning  to  Newman  he  brings  ; 

At  midnight  the  war  dance  was  lighted, 
To-day  on  the  war-path  they  spring. 

The  settlers  on  broad  Kickemuit, 
Have  deserted  their  homes  for  the  fray 

To  strengthen  the  guard  at  Myles'  fortress 
And  hold  the  red  warriors  at  bay. 

The  order  has  come  from  New  Plymouth, 
Proclaiming  a  fast  o'er  the  land. 

'*To  avert  God's  displeasure  against  us, 
The  pestilence  stay  by  his  hand." 

"Jehovah,  the  pilgrims'  defender, 
Who  hast  saved  from  the  storm  and  the  flood, 

To  thy  care  we  now  meekly  surrender  ;— ^ 
Oh,  stay  the  sharp  blows  of  thy  rod." 

"Our  sins  we  most  humbly  confess  them  ; 

Like  crimson  our  hearts  are  deep  stained  ; 
We  merit  the  direst  destruction. 

But  save  us  in  Jesus'  great  name." 

•*And  now  from  your  homes,"  cries  the  captain, 
"To  the  fort  your  old  bell  muzzles  bring, 

There  are  powder  and  bullets  in  plenty  ; 
Round  the  ears  of  the  redskins  they'll  siug." 

"  'Tis  true  we're  not  fond  of  such  music. 
But  we  are  not  setting  the  tune. 

The  red  man  may  do  some  tall  dancing 
Arownd  the  red  roses  of  JuHC." 


ORIGINAL  POEM.  123 

Then  Newman,   tlie  younger,  with  mettle 

As  true  and  as  brave  as  liis  sire's, 
Takes  command  of  his  forces  for  battle  ; 

Their  courage  in  danger  inspires. 

The  women  and  children  safe  gathered 

Within  the  broad  "Ring  of  the  Town," 
The  parson  and  flock  hunt  for  redmen— 

A  dozen  or  more  they  shoot  down. 

The  battles  rage  fiercely  around  them, 
These  plains  were  well  crimsoned  with  blood, 

Where  Pierce,  with  a  valor  so  splendid, 
Fell  facing  Pawtucket's  swift  flood. 

The  warwhoop  sounds  out  the  alarum. 

The  Indians  cover  the  plains. 
They  stealthily  hide  in  the  thicket, 

While  the  people  the  garrison  gain. 

The  story  is  told  that  one  yeoman — 

A  Celt  and  the  first  in  this  land — 
Fled  not  from  the  face  of  the  redman, 

But  died  with  his  Bible  in  hand. 

Oh,  sad  was  that  dark  night  of  terror 
When  the  torch  swept  this  peaceable  town  ! 

It  seemed  like  the  fires  of  dark  judgements, 
As  rain  from  the  heavens  coming  down. 

*Twas  Nero,  the  tyrant,  who  sported. 
When  Rome  from  her  proud  station  fell, 

'Twas  Philip  of  Montaup  who  revelled, 
While  the  fires  raged,  a  pitiless  hell. 

Here  Annawan,  bravest  of  chieftans, 

Sought  refuge  in  yon  rocky  wood, 
Whom  Church  from  his  eagle-eyed  eyrie 

Seized  and  slew  with  small  tumult  and  blood. 

The  soil  of  yon  Common  is  sacred. 

Its  ashes  are  mingled  with  blood  ; 
The  red  and  the  white  fell  together — 

Both  await  the  great  judgement  of  God, 


124  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

The  roses  are  blooming  at  Seekonk, 
The  sweetbrier  is  fragant  in  June, 

War  sleeps  at  the  roots  of  the  daisies, 
Sweet  Peace  yields  her  grateful  perfume. 


FREEDOM  OF  CHURCH   AND   STHTE. 

From  scenes  like  these  of  earliest  times, 

My  INIuse,  turn  thou  away, 
And  sing  of  happier  hours  and  deeds. 

Of  men  of  later  day. 

When  Freedom,  child  of  Western  birtli, 

Approached  its  natal  hour  ; 
And  stern  Oppression  fought  to  hold 

Iler  strong  but  waning  power, 

Nature,  stern  savage,  first  was  met. 

The  fight  is  not  yet  o'er  : 
From  cape  to  gulf  the  contest's  on, 

From  ocean's  shore  to  shore. 

Our  fathers  met  a  sterner  foe 

In  hostile  sons  of  men  ; 
The  Indian  wars  left  many  scars 

And  tried  their  courage  then. 

United  'neatli  one  common  flag — 

The  banner  of  the  free — 
They  marched  along  life's  broad  highway 

To  grander  liberty. 

Each  cycle  as  it  swept  around 

Unrolled  a  fresh-born  hour; 
The  century  aloe  bloomed  anew 

With  more  luxuriant  flower. 

The  priest  and  people,  equals  then 

By  common  heritage, 
And  equal  sacrifice  for  peace, 

Proclaimed  the  coming  age. 

The  watchmen  on  this  Zion's  walls 

Studied  the  starry  night, 
And  as  Heaven's  curtains  rolled  away 

Announced  the  rising  light. 


ORIGINAL   POEM.  125 

The  happier  home,  the  freer  scliool, 

Were  streaks  of  morning's  dawn, 
But  brighter  yet  was  manhood's  growth 

In  whicli  our  State  was  born. 

The  cliurch  fulfilled  her  mission  high 

And  led  toward  kindlier  life  ; 
She  showed  men  how  to  live  in  love, 

To  shun  all  earthly  strife, 

Except  as  truth  should  need  defense— 

Her  breastwork  then  was  men 
Who  stood  at  Concord's  stony  bridge 

Or  fell  at  Lexington. 

The  pulpit  sounded  forth,  "To  arms  !" 

The  pews  the  call  obey  ; 
The  courage  born  of  Christian  faith 

Won  all  the  victory. 

With  men  of  mother  race  there  came 

The  fratricidal  strife  ; 
The  sons  of  Seekonk  bravely  stood 

To  save  the  nation's  life. 

The  star  that  led  their  pilgrim  sires 

Across  the  western  wave, 
Then  reached  its  zenith  ;  o'er  the  world 

Its  light  to  millions  gave, 

Till  in  these  latest  days  we  dwell 

On  Pisgali's  lofty  stand, 
And  view  bright  Canaan  yet  afar— > 

Our  children's  promised  land. 

Ilow  glad  the  promise  of  the  hour,— 

Around  us  all  is  peace. 
Our  homes  are  beauteous  heavens  below— 

We  ask  no  swift  release, 

Our  neighbor  dwells  beyond  the  hills 

And  o'er  the  stormy  seas; 
We  know  no  color,  creed  nor  clan  — 

Except  the  far  Chinese. 


126  2^0th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

Our  chariots  ride  on  wino's  of  wind 

Across  the  land  and  main  ; 
We  cliase  the  lightning  in  our  speech ; 

It  lights  our  flying  train. 

We  talk  with  men  in  far  Cathay, 
And  dine  in  our  New  York, 

We  steam  to  London  in  four  days, 
And  supper  take  in  Cork. 

Our  Uncle  Sam  he  squints  his  eye 

Across  our  northern  border, 
In  half  a  jiffy  stout  John  Bull 
Brands  him  as  a  marauder. 

"The  Grand  Old  Man"  in  Parliament 
Declares  for  good  home  rule, 

And  Cleveland  echoes  back  "Amen," 
Before  his  words  are  cool. 

A  western  town  of  fifty  years 

Invites  all  to  Chicago  ; 
The  warships  of  the  world  unite 

To  say  "We'll  not  to  war  go." 

Our  women  vote,  orate  and  pray, 
And  cook  the  best  of  dinners  ; 

They  drive  seven  devils  out  of  men 
And  watch  for  bigger  sinners. 

What's  still  to  come  n^  seer  can  say, 

No  poet  yet  divine, 
One  thing  is  true,  we're  mo\ing  on 

Along  the  appointed  line. 

From  England  old  to  England  new- 
Columbia  newer  still. 

From  New^man  of  the  elder  stock, 
Through  Greenwood,  Hyde  and  Hill. 

The  veteran  Barney,  in  wiiose  years 
This  church  had  strength  and  peace, 

Evans  and  Johnson,  Woodworth,  too. 
And  Ferris  last,  not  least. 


ORIGINAL   POEM.  127 

The  church  is  freer  than  of  yore, 

Her  creeds  are  lighter  grown, 
The  Christ  has  entered  liumanlife 

To  fill  it  with  his  own. 

The  State  now  stands  for  freedom  large, 

In  thought  and  action  one  ; 
The  man  of  wealth  and  man  of   work 

Are  equal  'neatli  our  sun. 

To-day,  for  blessings  large  and  full, 

We  owe  to  English  stock. 
We  grateful  raise  our  voice  of  praise 

On  this  our  Plymouth  Rock. 

The  mother  town  salutes  her  own, — 

Her  children  strong  and  true, 
In  coming  time,  with  faith  sublime. 

She'll  conquests  gain  with  you. 

All  honor  to  those  noble  sires, 

Who  planted  on  these  plains, 
The  seeds  of  virtue,  labor,  truth. 

Whose  fruitage  rich  remains. 

May  He  who  leads  to  pastures  rich, 

Our  guide  and  guardian  be. 
Till  in  the  west  we  sink  to  rest 

Beyond  life's  golden  sea. 


Read  at  the  celebration  of  the  250th  anniversary  of  the  planting 
of  the  Newman  Congregational  Church  and  of  the  founding  of  the 
town  of  Relioboth,  June  7,  1893. 


GEORGE    N.   GOFF. 


BlOCiRAnilCAL   NOTES.  129 

[It  is  proper  to  add  to  tlie  published  acu-ouiit  of  the  proceediu};^  at 
the  two  himdred  Jiftieth  auniversaiy  of  Rehoboth,  brief  biograph- 
ical notes  of  the  Committee  who  served  the  Autiquarian  Society 
and  the  town  in  the  successful  undertaking,  and  of  two  or  three 
persons  intimatly  connected  with  the  history  of  the  town  and  the 
celebration.] 

Darius  Goff. 


Among  the  distinguished  manufacturers  of  New  Eng- 
land of  the  last  half  century,  as  a  pioneer  in  the  establish- 
ment of  new  and  important  manufacturing  industricKS. 
Darius  Goff,  of  Paw  tucket,  R.  I.,  was  undoubtedly  the 
foremost  representative.  Bred  to  the  pursuit  of  textile 
manufacture,  and  gifted  with  mechanical  insight  and  in- 
ventive talent,  from  the  beginning  to  nearly  the  end  of 
his  long  business  career  he  labored  to  open  untouched 
fields  of  industrial  enterprise  ;  and  by  reason  of  the  un- 
failing success  of  his  numerous  undertakings,  creating 
and  permanently  establishing  industries  of  great  national 
importance,  his  legacy  to  American  manufactures  is  of 
immeasurable  value,  demanding  full  recognition  in  the 
annals  of  permanent  history. 

Darius  Goff  was  born  in  the  town  of  Hehoboth,  Mas- 
sachusetts, May  10,  1809,  and  he  was  the  youngest  son  of 
Lieutenant  Richard  and  Mehitable  (Bullock)  Goff.  He 
had  four  brothers  and  two  sisters  ;  names,  Richard,  Otis 
Horatio,  Patience,  Nelson,  and  Mary  B.,  his  sister  Mary 
being  the  only  one  of  the  children  3'ounger  than  he. 

His  ancestral  line  in  the  New  World  begins  in  the 
early  settlement  of  the  Old  Colony,  and  comes  down 
through  the  generations  in  honorable  succession.  Darius 
Goff's  mother  was  the  daughter  of  Hon.  Stephen  Bullock. 
His  great-grandfather  on   the  paternal   branch,   Richard 


130  250th  anniversary  oe  rehoboth. 

Goff,  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  the  Old  Colony,  and 
his  grandfather,  Joseph  Goff,  was  of  Harrington,  both  in 
their  day  being  men  of  influence,  and  held  in  high  esteem. 
His  father,  Richard  Goff,  was  a  pioneer  in  wool  manufac- 
ture, establishing  at  Rehoboth,  in  1790,  a  fulling  and  cloth 
dressing  mill,  which  he  carrid  on  with  success  until  1821, 
when  mills  of  that  character  were  generally  supplanted  by 
large  factories,  in  which  all  the  operations  of  manufacture 
were  done  by  improved  methods  and  machinery. 

The  boyhood  days  of  Darius  Goff  were  in  part  spent 
in  the  village  school,  where  he  obtained  the  rudiments  of 
an  English  education,  and  in  part  in  his  father's  mill, 
where  he  acquired  a  general  knowledge  of  the  business, 
attaining,  however,  a  greater  proficiency  in  the  processes 
of  coloring,  as  most  of  his  work,  and  his  especial  interest, 
was  in  that  department.  After  his  labors  at  home  were 
ended,  he  went  to  Fall  Rivei',  and  was  employed  for  a  time 
in  the  woolen  mill  of  John  and  Jesse  Eddy.  In  1827  he 
engaged  as  clerk  in  a  large  grocer}^  store  in  Providence ; 
and  he  continued  in  that  employn:ient  until  1833,  when  he 
returned  to  Rehoboth,  and  with  his  brother  Nelson,  equip- 
ped and  put  in  operation  the  first  mill  in  the  country 
known  to  have  been  run  successfullj^  in  the  manufacture 
of  cotton  batting.  Mr.  Goff's  development  of  this  branch 
of  manufacture,  by  the  introduction  of  machinery  and 
processes  of  his  own  conception  and  original  application, 
and  his  other  business  undertakings  from  that  time  until 
1861,  is  outlined  in  the  history  of  the  Union  Wadding 
Company  of  Pawtucket,  which  was  the  grand  culmination 
of  his  efforts  aad  labors  in  that  line  of  industrial  prooress. 

In  1861,  Mr.  Goff  conceived  and  put  in  execution 
another  enterprise,  compassing  a  field  of  equal  if  not 
greater  importance — the  manufacture  of  worsted  braids  in 


lHOGKAnilCAL    .NOTES.  181 

tliis  country,  which  had  previously  been  purely  experi- 
mental, and  had  utterly  failed  of  successful  establishment. 
Upon  the  foundation  then  laid  by  liim  after  strenuous 
efforts,  shared  from  the  beginning  by  his  son,  Darius  L. 
Goff,  has  been  established  the  great  worsted  braid  concern 
of  D.  Goff  &  Sons,  whose  products  are  known  throughout 
the  whole  civilized  world.  Its  history  elsewhere  given  is 
practically  the  history  of  the  inception,  growth,  and  de- 
velopment of  the  worsted  braid  industry  in  the  United 
States ;  and  in  it  is  briefly  recorded  the  nature  of  the 
principal  difficulties  encountered  and  overcome  to  effect 
its  permanent  and  prosperous  establishment. 

Another  signal  achievement  of  Mr.  Goff  was  the 
founding  of  the  mohair  plush  industry  in  America.  Prior 
to  1882,  the  manufacture  of  this  article  for  upholstery  and 
other  uses  of  a  similar  character  had  been  mostly  confined 
to  France  and  Germany.  The  importation  .of  this  ma- 
terial had  become  considerable,  and  was  annually  increas- 
ing, and  Mr.  Goff  was  inspired  with  the  desirability  of  its 
being  made  a  home  product,  and  with  the  belief  that  he 
could  profitably  undertake  it  in  competition  with  the  for- 
eign manufactures.  To  carry  out  this  purpose,  in  1882, 
he  sent  a  skilled  mechanic  to  visit  the  principal  plush 
manufactories  of  France  and  of  Germany,  to  acquire  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  their  methods  and  processes  and 
to  purchase  the  requisite  machinery.  But  his  agent 
utterly  failed  in  accomplishing  the  object  of  his  mission. 
The  operations  at  the  factories  were  carried  on  with  the 
utmost  secrecy ;  and  by  no  strateg}^  could  the  necessary 
machinery  be  obtained,  hence  Mr.  Goff  was  thrown  back 
entirely  on  his  own  resources  of  invention,  and  a  resolute 
determination  to  achieve  a  success  independent  of  foreign 
locks  and  keys.     With  characteristic  energy  he  immedi- 


132  260th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

ately  instituted  a  series  of  experiments,  which,  although 
protracted  to  a  period  of  five  years,  finally  resulted  in  the 
construction  of  a  loom,  the  products  of  which  were  fully 
equal  in  perfection  and  value  to  the  best  foreign  manu- 
factures. 

The  last  manufacturing  industry  established  under 
the  auspices  of  Mr.  Goff,  was  the  Royal  Weaving  Com- 
pany of  Pawtucket,  and  it  grew  out  of  an  incident  which 
occurred  about  two  years  before  his  death.  In  looking 
over  a  building  owned  by  him,  rented  to  several  tenants 
engaged  in  various  pursuits,  he  found  one  of  the  rooms 
occupied  by  an  English  weaver,  Mr.  Joseph  Ott,  employ- 
ing two  hand  looms  in  the  manufacture  of  coat  linings, 
using  in  their  fabrication  fine  imported  yarns.  Mr.  Ott 
had  but  recently  arrived  in  this  country,  and  as  far  as 
could  be  learned,  he  was  the  only  producer  of  that  class 
of  goods  in- the  United  States.  Mr.  Goff  at  once  discerned 
the  value  of  this  new  industry  and  the  feasibility  of  estab- 
lishing it  here  on  a  permanent  and  paying  basis.  To  that 
end  he  became  interested  with  Mr.  Ott,  and  with  his  per- 
sonal assistance  and  substantial  aid  the  above  named  com- 
pany was  organized.  A  factory  was  soon  fitted  up  with 
suitable  machinery  and  power,  and  the  manufacture  of 
these  goods  was  successfully  inaugurated.  The  factory 
of  the  Royal  Weaving  Company  is  at  Central  Falls ;  sev- 
enty-five looms  are  now  in  operation,  and  the  fabrics  pro- 
duced are  worsted,  cotton,  and  silk. 

To  within  a  brief  period  of  his  death,  Mr.  Goff  retained 
in  a  remarkable  degree  the  full  exercise  of  his  mental 
faculties  and  physical  activity.  With  unrelaxed  interest 
he  visited  his  mills,  gave  close  attention  to  the  work  in 
hand,  and  the  methods  employed,  and  in  an  advisory  way 


BTOGRAPHTCAL  NOTES.  133 

he  was  to  the  last  the  means  of  eifecting  more   or  less 
salutary  changes  and  improvements. 

Mr.  Goff  died  at  his  home  in  Pawtucket,  R.  I.,  April 
14, 1891,  closing  a  long  career  of  great  value  to  the  indus- 
trial interests  of  the  country,  and  of  immeasurable  useful- 
fulness  in  all  departments  of  life  which  claimed  his  ser- 
vice, aid  or  sympathy.  On  his  decease  the  City  of  Paw- 
tucket, through  her  journals,  societies  and  official  boards 
made  grateful  acknowledgements  of  its  indebtedness  to 
him  for  his  instrumentality  in  making  it  first  among  the 
textile  manufacturing  centres  of  the  United  States,  rela- 
tive to  its  population;  and  for  his  activity  in  the  promo- 
tion of  every  undertaking  for  the  advancement  of  its  busi- 
ness, educational,  social,  and  religious  interests. 

The  National  Association  of  Wool  Manufacturers,  of 
which  he  had  long  been  an  active  member,  at  a  meeting 
held  in  Boston,  paid  earnest  tribute  to  him  for  his  "  Pre- 
eminent services  in  the  diversification  and  extension  of 
the  v/ool  manufacture,  to  his  high  character  as  a  ma'n,  his 
large  public  spirit,  his  conscientious  discharge  of  every 
obligation  to  society,  and  the  earnest  devotion  to  principle 
by  which  his  life  and  actions  were  governed." 

Holding  in  affectionate  regard  the  place  of  his  birth 
and  its  early  associations,  in  1884  Mr.  Goif  purchased  and 
gave  to  the  Town  of  Rehoboth,  as  a  site  for  a  Memorial 
Hall,  the  old  homestead  estate  which  had  been  in  the 
family  since  1714.  The  old  Goff  Inn,  one  of  the  noted 
hostelries  of  colonial  days,  still  remained,  and  the  spot 
occupied  by  it  was  chosen  by  him  for  the  place  of  the 
Hall.  Under  his  auspices,  with  liberal  aid  from  the  town 
people,  a  fine  edifice  was  erected,  containing  school  rooms, 
a  lecture  hall,  a  library,  and  an  antiquarian  room,  in  which 


134  250th  anniveesary  of  rehoboth. 

are  interestingly  exhibited  the  primitive  hand  implements 
of  the  early  days,  used  in  the  textile  arts.  The  building 
was  dedicated  as  the  Gofr  Memorial  Hall,  on  May  10, 
1886,  the  77th  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Mr.  Goff,  and 
the  240th  anniversary  of  the  delivery  of  the  deeds  of  the 
old  town  by  Massasoit  to  the  English. 

Mr.  Goff  was  one  of  the  original  stockholders  of  tlie 
Pawtucket  Gas  Company,  and  for  many  years  he  was  the 
sole  surviving  member  of  its  first  board  of  directors.  He 
was  a  director  in  the  Pawtucket  Hair  Cloth  Company, 
from  its  organization ;  and  he  was  also  a  director  of  the 
Franklin  Savings  Bank,  of  the  First  National  Bank,  and 
of  the  Pawtucket  Street  Railway  Company.  He  was  called 
to  serve  in  the  Town  Council  of  Pawtucket,  and  in  1871 
he  was  elected  State  Senator.  From  1848,  Mr.  Goff  was 
identified  with  the  society  and  interests  of  the  Pawtucket 
Congregational  Church,  and  from  1856  he  was  a  promi- 
nent and  active  member  of  that  religious  organization,  con- 
tributing most  liberally  for  its  support,  and  its  numerous 
allied  interests,  at  one  time  subscribiug  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars in  liquidation  of  the  church  debt.  Broad  as  the  world 
was  the  scope  of  his  interests  and  sympathies.  He  gave 
freely  of  his  means  for  home  and  foreign  missions ;  his 
public  gifts  were  widely  known  and  appreciated,  and  his 
life  was  replete  with  deeds  of  benevolence  and  quiet  acts 
of  every  day  charity. 

In  May,  1839,  Mr.  Goff  was  married  to  Sarah  Lee,  a 
daughter  of  Israel  Lee,  of  Dighton,  Mass.  Of  the  com- 
panionship of  this  wife  he  was  early  bereft  by  her  death, 
and  her  only  child  also  died.  He  was  afterward  married 
to  Harriet  Lee,  a  sister  of  his  former  wife,  and  the  chil. 
dren  by  this  marriage  are  Darius  L.,  Lyman  B.,  and  Sarah 
C,  wife  of  Thomas  Sedgwick  Steele,  of  Hartford,  Connec- 
ticut. 


lUOfiKAl'EirCAL   NOTES.  135 

EseK  H.  Pierce. 


Mr.  Pierce  was  born  in  Swansea,  Mass.,  January  25, 
1830,  of  Pilgrim  stock,  his  ancestry  being  among  the  most 
worthy  people  of  Plymouth  Colony.  A  farmer's  son,  he 
had  the  usual  district  school  opportunities  of  that  day, 
removing  to  Rehoboth  in  1841.  Mr.  Pierce  w^as  a  bright 
pupil,  made  the  most  of  his  advantages,  and  qualified  him- 
self to  teach  school,  following  this  useful  work  for  eleven 
years  ;  after  which  he  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  and 
in  farming.  His  character  and  experience  naturally  fitted 
him  for  public  business,  and  the  confidence  of  the  people 
in  his  ability  and  integrity  gave  him  a  large  share  of  pro- 
bate work  and  the  settlement  of  estates.  He  has  been  a 
member  of  the  school  committee  of  Rehoboth,  and  a  tax 
collector  for  five  years.  He  has  been  a  life-long  Repub- 
lican, and  was  elected  to  the  Massachusetts  General  Court 
in  1892  from  the  Tenth  District,  serving  on  the  Committee 
on  Harbors  and  Public  Lands. 

]Mr.  Pierce  is  not  only  a  public-spirited  citizen  and  a 
well-read  man,  but  he  has  also  travelled  extensively  in 
this  country  and  abroad.  In  1891  he  sailed  from  Boston 
to  Liverpool ;  thence  to  Naples,  to  Alexandria  ;  thence  to 
Cairo,  taking  a  trip  up  the  Nile,  returning  to  Cairo  and 
then  to  Tsmalia,  passing  through  the  Suez  Canal  to  Port 
Said.  Thence  he  sailed  to  Jaffa,  and  by  carriage  went 
to  Jerusalem  ;  from  Jerusalem  he  took  a  horseback  jour- 
ney of  600  miles  to  Beirut,  and  thence  to  Constantinople, 
with  a  homeward  trip  across  the  Continent;  reaching  New 
York  after  an  absence  of  about  five  months,  and  enriched 
by  the  gains  of  a  most  interesting  and  instructive  tour. 


136  250th  anniyeesaey  of  eehoeoih. 

Mr.  Pierce  was  one  of  the  most  foremost  of  our  citi- 
zens in  promoting  the  celebration  of  the  two  hundred  and 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  Town,  and  as  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  performed  his  part  with  honor  to  himself  and 
credit  to  the  Antiquarian  Society  and  the  Town.  His  in- 
terest in  all  that  relates  to  the  preservation  of  the  honor- 
able history  of  Rehoboth  and  the  advancement  of  the  pre- 
sent condition  of  Town  affairs  is  strong  and  influential, 
and  the  Town  will  alwaye  hold  his  services  in  high  esteem. 


Natlnaniel  BaKer  Horton. 


Mr.  N.  B.  Horton  is  one  of  the  solid  men  of  Reho- 
both— solid  physically,  financially,  socially,  politically,  in- 
fluentially.  He  was  born  to  a  farmer's  life  in  Rehoboth, 
July  25,  1820,  and  by  habits  of  industry  and  economy  has 
secured  a  handsome  fortune,  and  by  devotion  to  high  prin- 
ciples of  action  has  won  the  universal  respect  of  the  people. 
Mr.  Horton  owns  a  valuable  farm  of  250  acres,  from  which 
he  obtains  annual  crops  of  fruits,  strawberries,  corn,  pota- 
toes, celer}^,  and  other  vegetables. 

Mr.  Horton 's  active  interest  in  putting  down  the  Re- 
bellion made  him  the  recruiting  officer  of  the  Town  during 
the  war.  He  served  as  a  Representative  in  the  Massachu- 
setts General  Court  in  1862  and  1868.  He  was  town 
treasurer  and  tax  collector  for  several  years.  He  is  one 
of  the  largest  mill  owners  in  Rehoboth,  and  is  a  Director 
in  several  Fall  River  mills.  He  is  also  interested  in  the 
coal  and  quarry  business.  He  has  acted  as  executor  and 
administrator  of  many  estates,  and  is  a  local  banker  for 
loaning  money. 


WILLIAM   W.    BLANDING. 


BlOGRArillCAL   NOTES.  137 

In  politics  Mr.  Horton  is  an  ardent  Republican,  and  in 
all  the  relations  of  a  man  and  citizen  lie  is  respected  and 
trusted  by  tlie  people. 

Williarn  W.    Blanding. 


The  Blanding  ancestry  came  to  New  England  from  Up- 
ton, County  of  Worcester,  England,  as  early  as  1640,  and 
settled  at  Boston.  William  Blanding,  the  first,  owned  a 
section  of  land  south  of  what  is  now  Summer  st.,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Hovey's  dry  goods  store.  William 
Blanding,  2nd,  came  to  Rehoboth  about  1660,  and  settled 
on  Rocky  Hill.  The  Carpenters  had  already  come  to 
Rehoboth,  and  the  two  families  were  united  in  marriage 
in  the  3rd  generation  in  America,  bringing  the  best  blood 
of  the  colonial  settlements  into  one  family  name,  the 
Blanding.  William  W.  bears  the  name  of  the  first  pro- 
genitor, and  the  name  also  of  Wheeler,  one  of  the  col- 
lateral branches  of  the  family.  William  had  excellent 
native  ability — developed  in  one  of  the  best  New  England 
families  in  rural  life, — and  received  a  fair  common  school 
education,  with  a  few  terms  at  private  school.  Brought 
up  on  a  farm,  he  has  devoted  his  life  to  this  most  useful 
and  honorable  occupation,  and  the  farm  on  which  he  was 
born  has  constantly  improved  under  his  intelligent  care 
and  industry.  He  has  caused  more  than  two  blades  of 
grass  to  grow  where  there  was  only  one,  and  may  there- 
fore be  styled  a  real  benefactor.  His  farm  and  farmhouses 
are  samples  of  real  enterprise,  thrift,  neatness  and  econ. 
omy. 

Mr.  Blanding  has  not  been  an  office-seeker,  yet  his 
fellow  citizens  have  honored  him  with  a  number  of  public 
trusts,  having  been  selectman,  assessor,  town  and. church 


138  250th  anniveesaey  of  eehoboth. 

treasurer.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Rehoboth 
Antiquarian  Society,  and  is  the  largest  stockholder.  He 
has  been  treasurer  of  this  Society  since  its  formation.  He 
is  an  active  member  of  the  Congregational  Church  of  Reho- 
both, and  is  interested  in  all  the  progressive  movements 
of  the  time. 

George  Nelson  Goff, 


The  name  Goff  is  found  upon  the  early  records  of 
New  England.  Thomas  Goff,  a  wealthy  merchant  of  Lon- 
don, Eng.,  associated  with  Matthew  Craddock,  John  Endi- 
cott,  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall  and  others,  were  among  the 
principal  actors  in  laying  the  foundation  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Bay  Colony.  "  By  mutual  agreement  among  them- 
selves they  were  framed  into  a  body  politic  and  confirmed 
or  rather  so  constituted  by  the  royal  charter."  The  first 
Gov.  chosen  was  Matthew  Craddock ;  the  first  deput}'-- 
Gov.,  Thomas  Goff.     They  were  sworn  March  23, 1628. 

The  first  Goff  to  be  made  a  freeman  by  the  General 
Court  was  one  John,  May  18,  1631.  But  the  first  Goff  in 
Rehoboth  of  whom  we  have  any  authentic  record  was 
Richard,  who  married  Martha  Toogood.  Their  son  Joseph, 
b.  in  Rehoboth  1724,  m.  Patience  Thurber;  they  lived 
together  seventy  yrs.  and  had  14  children,  one  of  whom, 
Richard,  b.  1749  in  Rehoboth,  m.  Mehitable  Bullock. 
Richard  was  a  manufacturer,  operating  a  fulling  mill  on 
Palmer's  River  as  early  as  Jan.  1776,  but  after  the  intro- 
duction of  power  looms  he  with  other  townsmen  formed 
a  manufacturing  company  and  built  the  3rd  cotton  mill 
in  this  country.  He  was  also  a  commissioned  officer 
under  John  Hancock.  Two  of  his  sons.  Nelson  and 
Darius,  succeeded  him  in  the  cotton  industry  in  Rehoboth. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   NOTES.  139 

George  Nelson,  son  of  Nelson  and  Alice  (Lake)  Goff  was 
born  in  Rehobotli,  1837  m.  Julia  Bishop  Horton.  Pie  is 
the  owner  and  lives  on  the  old  parental  homestead,  which 
has  been  in  possession  of  the  family  since  1714.  He  was 
raised  a  farmer  and  has  always  pursued  that  vocation,  but 
has  held  various  town  offices  and  represented  the  lOtli  Bris- 
tol Representative  District  in  1885. 

Hon.  Elislia  Davis. 


Hon.  Elisha  Davis,  son  of  John  and  Nancy  Davis, 
was  born  Nov.  27th,  1831,  upon  the  homestead  in  Reho- 
both  where  he  has  since  resided.  He  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  season  of 
1860,  when  engaged  in  brick  making,  he  has  devoted  him- 
self to  farming  upon  the  paternal  acres  which  came  into 
his  possession  by  inheritance  and  purchase  in  1861,  and 
by  his  eminent  success  in  his  business,  has  demonstrated 
the  certainty  that  practical  farming,  when  directed  by 
intelligence  and  pursued  with  industry,  can  be  made  pro- 
fitable in  the  Old  Bay  State;  an  object  lesson  in  facts 
worth  more  to  his  wisely  observing  neighbors  than  vol- 
umes of  verbal  exemplifications  could  be.  That  Mr. 
Davis'  abilities  have  been  appreciated  by  his  townsmen 
is  evidenced  by  their  having  for  many  years  chosen  him 
to  be  of  their  board  of  selectjnen  (as  they  had  his  father 
many  times  before  him)  and  in  1870  he  was  elected  to 
represent  his  district — Berkley,  Dighton,  Rehobotli  and 
Seekonk — in  the  State  Legislature,  besides  which,  he 
has  long  held  the  Governor's  Commission  as  a  Justice  of 
the  Peace  and  been  largely  employed  in  the  settlement  of 
estates  in  Probate. 


140  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

In  connection  with  Mr.  Davis'  success  as  a  farmer 
and  usefalness  as  a  citizen,  it  deserves  to  be  said  that  his 
estimable  wife  Etherinda — daughter  of  the  late  Burden 
and  Lydia  (Baker)  Munroe — has  been  a  most  notable 
housekeeper  and  an  exemplary  helpmate  in  all  his  under- 
takings. 

Their  children  are  two  sons,  Elisha  T.  and  Daniel  E. 
both  now  engaged  in  active  business  in  Chicago,  and  one 
daughter,  Lydia  B.  the  respected  wife  of  the  Rev.  F. 
E.  Bixby,  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  church  in  Swansea, 
of  which  body,  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Davis  are  dutiful 
members  and  it  may  well  be  said  of  them  that  they  are 
typical  representatives  of  the  best  citizenship  in  Massa- 
chusetts country  life,  and  have  kept  themselves  well 
abreast  with  the  moral,  social  and  industrial  progress 
of  their  times  and  have  been  and  are  an  honor  to  their 
families  and  the  good  old  town  of  Rehoboth. 

Gilstavils  B.  PecK. 


Gustavus  B.  Peck,  son  of  Cyrus  and  Rebecca  (Sher- 
man) Peck,  was  born  in  Providence,  at  the  southwest 
corner  of  John  and  Thayer  streets,  December  31,  1832. 
The  Pecks  are  an  old  Rehoboth  family,  settling  in  that 
town  about  1650  ;  and  their  descendants  are  now  scat- 
tered far  and  wide  in  the.  surrounding  towns  and  the 
county  at  large.  Mr.  Peck's  mother  was  from  the  Sher- 
man stock,  of  Newport,  one  of  the  leading  families  of  that 
city.  Mr.  Peck  is  a  mason  by  trade,  but  has  devoted  con- 
siderable time  to  farming.  He  married  Lydia  J.  Luther, 
daughter  of  Rodolphus  and  Sophia  (Goff)  Luther,  in 
1857.  One  daughter,  Ella  Rebecca  Peck,  was  born  to 
the  parents.     She  died  at  the  age  of  22  years. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTKS.  141 

Mr.  Peck  has  resided  at  Rehoboth  Village  since  his 
marriage,  and  is  an  active  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church  and  of  the  Antiquarian  Society.  Mr.  Peck 
rendered  valuable  service  in  connection  with  the  two 
hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  town,  and  is 
deeply  interested  in  all  that  relates  to  its  progress. 

Ex-Gov.  Jol^n  W.   Davis. 


The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  at  his  father's 
farm-house  in  Rehoboth,  March  7, 1826,  spending  the  first 
eighteen  years  of  his  life  on  the  farm  and  attending  the 
district  schools  of  the  neighborhood  as  opportunity  al- 
lowed. In  1844  young  Davis  left  home  to  learn  a  mason's 
trade  in  Providence,  devoting  six  years  to  that  occupa- 
tion ;  teaching  public  school  winters  or  travelling  as  a 
journeyman,  working  at  his  trade  in  the  Southern  States. 
In  1850  he  opened  a  grain  store  on  South  Water  street. 
Providence,  where  he  conducted  a  successful  business  as 
a  grain  and  flour  merchant  for  forty  years,closing  his  active 
mercantile  life  in  1890.  His  business  career  was  marked 
by  constant  industry,  vigorous  energy,  and  thorough 
honesty.  In  politics  Mr.  Davis  is  a  Democrat;  and, 
while  not  seeking  office,  he  is  deeply  interested  in  the 
political  affairs  of  the  city,  state,  and  nation.  He  was 
appointed  by  President  Cleveland,  in  1886,  appraiser  of 
foreign  merchandise  for  the  Providence, R. I. ,U.  S.  Customs 
District.  In  1887  he  was  selected  as  the  standard-bearer 
of  the  Democratic  party  for  governor  of  Rhode  Island, 
and  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  about  1,100  over  all 
other  candidates.  He  filled  the  office  with  ability  and 
fidelity,  but  was  defeated  1888.  He  was  again  a  candi- 
date for  governor  in  1889,  receiving  a  plurality  vote  of 
4,400,  over  Herbert  W.  Ladd,  but  failing  of  a  majority  of 


142  250th  anniveesaey  of  rehoboth. 

all  the  votes,  as  was  then  required.  Mr.  Ladcl  was  made 
Governor  by  the  General  Assembly.  In  1890,  Mr.  Davis 
was  again  candidate  for  Governor,  received  a  plurality 
vote,  and  was  elected  by  the  General  Assembly.  In  1891, 
Mr.  Davis  again  led  Mr.  Ladd  in  the  popular  vote  as  in 
the  years  1889  and  1890,  but  was  defeated  by  the  General 
Assembly.  Among  the  prominent  outcomes  of  his 
administration  as  Governor  of  Rhode  Island  may  be  men- 
tioned an  Investigation  and  Reform  in  Prison  Discipline  ; 
the  Adoption  of  an  Amendment  to  the  State  Constitution 
Extending  the  Electoral  Franchise  to  all  Citizens  upon 
Uniform  Qualifications,  thus  ending  a  long  and  bitter 
partisan  controversy  of  many  years  standing;  also  the 
Adoption  of  a  Ballot  Reform  Law,  and  the  Establishment 
of  the  Rhode  Island  College  of  Agriculture  and  Mechanic 
Arts. 

The  citizens  of  his  adopted  city,  Pawtucket,  have 
always  been  glad  to  honor  him,  and  he  represented  that 
city  in  the  State  Senate  in  the  years  1885,  1886  and  1890. 
He  was  also  President  of  the  Town  Council  in  the  years 
1882  and  1885.  In  1891'  and  1895,  he  was  a  candidate  for 
Mayor  of  Pawtucket,  wanting  only  a  small  vote  of  an 
election. 

Mr.  Davis  is  now  a  member  of  the  State  House  Com- 
mission, and  holds  other  important  business  connections. 
He  is  highly  respected  by  all  parties  for  his  candid 
expression  of  opinions,  his  strong  convictions,  honesty  of 
purpose  and  action,  and  sympathetic  touch  with  the 
common  people,  and  his  appreciation  of  the  needs  of 
society.  Old  Rehoboth,  with  her  many  honored  sons  and 
daughters,  has  great  reason  to  be  proud  of  her  son,  John 
W.  Davis,  the  true  citizen,  the  upright  Senator,  the  able 
Executive  of  Rhode  Island,  the  honest  man. 


BIOGRAnilCAL   NOTES.  143 

Thonaas  W.  BicKnell. 


Thomas  W.  Bicknell,  son  of  AUin  and  Harriet  B. 
Bicknell,  was  born  in  Barrington,  R.  I.,  September  6, 1884. 
Ilis  education  was  obtained  in  the  public  schools  of  his 
native  State,  Rhode  Island,  until  he  was  sixteen  years  of 
age. 

In  1850,  he  entered  Thetford  Academy,  Thetford,  Vt., 
then  under  the  principalship  of  Hiram  Orcutt,  LL.  D., 
graduating  from  the  Academy  with  tlie  Greek  Oration  in 
1853. 

Mr.  Bicknell  passed  entrance  examination  at  Dart- 
mouth and  Amherst  colleges,  and  entered  Amherst  in  the 
Class  of  1853,  under  the  presidency  of  Rev.  Edward 
Hitchcock,  D.D.  At  the  close  of  the  first  year  in  college 
he  went  West,  teaching  school  one  year  in  Illinois,  and 
returning  East,  taught  a  high  school  at  Rehoboth  Village 
for  two  years.  Prior  to  that  he  taught  two  terms  of 
winter  public  schools  at  the  "  Old  Red  School-house"  near 
Rehoboth  village,  and  two  terms  of  private  schools  at  the 
village. 

In  1857,  Mr.  Bicknell  entered  the  sophomore  class  of 
Brown  University,  and  graduated  with  the  degree  of 
A.  M.,  in  1860,  under  the  presidency  of  Rev.  Dr.  Barnas 
Sears.  In  1859,  he  was  elected  from  his  native  town  to 
the  House  of  Representatives  of  Rhode  Island,  and  served 
in  that  body  during  his  senior  year  in  brown  University. 
In  1860,  Mr.  Bicknell  was  elected  principal  of  the  High 
School,  Bristol,  R.  I.,  occupying  that  position  five  years, 
and  the  principalship  of  the  Arnold  Street  Grammar 
School,  Providence,  four  years. 


144  250th  anniveesary  of  eehoboth. 

In  1869,  Mr.  Bicknell  Avas  nominated  by  Gov.  Seth 
Padelford  as  Commissioner  of  Public  Schools  of  Rhode 
Island,  and  unanimously  confirmed  by  the  Rhode  Island 
Senate,  and  held  the  office  until  1875,  securing, 

1.  The  creation  of  a  State  Board  of  Education. 

2.  The  re-establishment  of  the  Rhode  Island  Normal 
School,  at  Providence,  on  a  permanent  basis. 

3.  Legislation  on  public  libraries,  and  appropriations 
therefor. 

4.  Terms  of  office  of  School  Committee  extended 
from  one  to  three  years,  with  the  election  of  women  thereon. 

5.  A  salaried  school  superintendent  for  each  town  in 
the  State. 

6.  The  establishment  of  evening  schools. 

7.  A  more  vigorous  enforcement  of  the  laws  relating 
to  truancy  and  illiteracy. 

8.  A  large  increase  in  the  State  and  town  appropria- 
tions for  public  schools. 

9.  The  dedication  of  more  than  fifty  new  school- 
houses,  and  a  general  improvement  of  the  moral  and 
material  condition  of  school  work. 

10.  The  restoration,  editing  and  publishing  of  The 
Rhode  Island  Schoolmaster,  the  State  educational  journal. 

11.  The  advance  of  public  sentinient,  by  public  dis- 
cussions, institutes,  lecture?,  etc.,  in  all  parts  of  the  State, 
and  the  gathering  of  great  educational  meetings,  especially 
of  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Rhode  Island  Institute  of 
Instruction  ;  the  audiences  numbering,  in  the  latter  case, 
more  than  three  thousand  people. 

Ihe  Board  of  Education  })ronounced  the  following 
verdict  on  Mr.  BicknelFs  State  administration  of  schools  : 


BiOGKArnrcAL  notes.  145 

"  He  has  labored  with  a  diligence,  a  wisdom,  and  a  conta- 
gious enthusiasm,  which  have  resulted  in  lasting  benefit  to 
the  cause  with  which  his  name  is  identified." 

Col.  Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson,  the  historian, 
speaks  of  Mr.  Bicknell's  "six  years  of  eminently  useful 
service,"  of  the  "  thoroughness  and  method  "  in  his  reports, 
of  his  fearlessness  in  presenting  facts  as  to  illiteracy  and 
other  evils,  and  of  his  wise  methods  for  school  improve- 
ment and  administration. 

In  1875,  the  various  monthly  educational  journals  of 
New  England  were  united  in  The  New  England  Journal 
of  Education,  and  Mr.  Bicknell  was  called  to  the  editor- 
ship, and  in  the  following  year  became  owner  and  publisher 
as  well  as  editor.  The  Primary  Teacher  was  established 
in  1877,  Good  Times  in  1878,  and  the  bimonthly  inter- 
national magazine,  Education,  in  1880.  All  of  these 
educational  papers  obtained  large  circulation  and  influence, 
and  all  have  to-day  a  most  successful  mission  in  the 
educational  field. 

The  Bureau  of  Education,  now  in  charge  of  Dr.  Hiram 
Orcutt,  was  established  by  Mr.  Bicknell  in  1876. 

Mr.  Bicknell's  highest  ability  is  seen  in  the  organiza- 
tion and  unifying  of  educational  forces  and  work,  and  this 
has  been  recognized  in  the  presidencies  he  has  held  in 
secular  and  religious  educational  organizations.  As  presi- 
dent of  the  Rhode  Island  Institute  of  Instruction,  he 
awakened  it  to  new  activity  and  success. 

While  president  of  the  American  Institute  of  In- 
struction, 1876-7-8,  the  largest  meeting  ever  held  in  New 
England  was  gathered  at  Fabyan's,  at  the  White  Mountains, 
and  as  one  of  the  results,  of  the  net  income  one  thousand 
dollars  was  set  apart  as  the  Bicknell  Fund. 


146  250th    ANNIVEESARY   OF  EEHOBOTH. 

In  1880,  Mr.  Bicknell  was  cliieily  instrumental  in  the 
orcranization  of  the  National  Council  of  Education,  and 
was  its  first  president  until  1884. 

In  1884,  Mr.  Bicknell,  as  president  of  the  National 
Teachers'  Association  of  the  United  States,  organized  the 
plans  and  gathered  at  Madison,  Wis.,  the  largest  and  most 
noted  educational  meeting  ever  held,  at  that  date,  in  this 
country. 

Mr.  Bicknell  represented  Massachusetts  in  the  Inter- 
state Congress  held  at  Louisville,  in  1883,  and  was  presi- 
dent of  the  Interstate  Commission  on  Federal  Aid. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  International  Congress  of 
Education,  held  at  New  Orleans,  in  1886,  and  read  two 
papers  before  that  body,  one  on  "  A  Plan  for  Federal  Aid 
in  Education,"  and  another  on  "School  Journalism,"  both 
of  which  have  been  published  by  the  National  Bureau  of 
Education. 

Mr.  Bicknell  has  delivered  more  than  six  hundred 
lectures  and  addresses  on  educational  topics,  several  of 
which  have  been  published  in  current  educational  litera- 
ture, and  has  spoken  on  education  in  nearly  every  State 
in  the  country.  His  addresses  on  "School  Supervision," 
before  the  American  Institute  of  Instruction,  in  1874,  and 
on  "  Civil  Service  Reform  in  Education,"  have  been 
published  by  the  American  Institute. 

Mr.  Bicknell  has  travelled  extensively  throughout  the 
United  States ;  has  visited  the  South  several  times,  and 
addressed  the  people  and  teachers  on  education  ;  and  has 
visited  Europe  three  times,  to  make  himself  familiar  with 
the  educational  systems,  life,  character,  and  history  of  the 
people.     He  was  a  Commissioner  from  Rhode  Island  to  the 


BIOGRAPHICAL   NOTES.  147 

World's  Exposition  at  Vienna  in  1873.  He  was  elected 
president  of  the  International  Sunday  School  Conven- 
tion, held  at  Louisville  in  1884,  and  was  a  Massachusetts 
delegate  to  the  Raikes  S.  S.  Centennial  in  London  in  1880. 
He  was  selected  by  Dr.  J.  H.  Vincent  to  organize  tlie 
Chautauqua  Teachers'  Reading  Union,  in  1886. 

Mr.  Bicknell  was  elected  from  the  largest  Republican 
ward  in  Boston  to  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Massa- 
chusetts in  November,  1888,  and  in  1889,  was  Chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Education  and  Woman's  Suffrage, 
an  honor  which  the  Boston  Herald  says  was  most  appro- 
priately bestowed. 

Mr.  Bicknell  married  in  1860  Miss  Amelia  D.  Blanding, 
daughter  of  Christopher  Blanding,  of  Rehoboth.  He  has 
taken  a  great  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  town,  and  may 
be  considered  as  one  of  its  truest  friends. 

His  wife,  Mrs.  Amelia  D.,  gave  five  hundred  dollars 
for  the  foundation  of  the  Blanding  Library,  of  Rehoboth, 
to  be  named  in  honor  of  her  parents,Christopher  and  Chloe 
(Carpenter)  Blanding,  of  Rehoboth. 

Mr.  Bicknell  is  now  (1896)  a  resident  of  Providence, 
R.  L,  taking  an  active  part  in  the  business,  political  and 
educational  interests  of  the  city  and  his  native  State. 


148  260th  ANNiVERSi^RY   OF  REttOBOTH. 

Briel  Slietclies  ol  Some  Distinguislied  Settlers  and  Sons  ol  EeloDotli. 


John  Brown,  one  of  the  original  proprietors  and  founders 
of  Rehoboth,  was  born  in  England  ;  in  his  youth 
travelled  in  Holland  where  he  became  acquainted 
with  the  Pilgrims;  came  to  Plymouth  in  the 
early  days  of  the  Colony  ;  was  made  a  freeman 
in  163-i ;  was  elected  to  the  office  of  Assistant  in 
Plymouth  Colony  in  1636,  and  held  the  place  for 
seventeen  years  ;  was  one  of  the  Commissioners 
of  the  United  Colonies  of  New  England  from 
1644  to  1655  ;  was  the  owner  of  large  estates  in 
Rehoboth  and  Wannamoisett,  now  Barrington 
and  East  Providence  ;  and  was  captain  of  the 
Swansea  militia ;  built  the  house  in  which  he 
lived  till  his  death,  on  the  Main  Road,  near  River- 
side, East  Providence  ;  died  April  10,  1662,  and 
was  buried  at  the  Little  Neck  Burial  Ground, 
near  Bullock's  Cove.  Mr.  Brown  was  liberal  in 
religion  and  was  the  first  magistrate  who  opposed 
compelling  the  people  to  support  the  ministry^ 
offering  to  pay  the  taxes  of  those  who  should 
refuse.  He  was  an  able,  conscientious,  noble. 
Godfearing  man,  and  his  life  was  a  blessing  to  the 
town  and  colony. 

Thomas  Willett  was  one  of  the  founders  of  Rehoboth, 
as  well  as  one  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of 
Old  Plymouth  Colony.  Born  in  England,  he 
spent  his  early  years,  as  did  Mr.  Brown,  in 
Holland,  where  he  learned  the  Dutch  language, 
manners  and  customs,  and  became  acquainted 
with  the  Pilgrims.     He  was  about  nineteen  years 


r 


fV 


,.<%  *ti^ 


GUSTAVUS    B.   PECK. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES.  140 

old  when  he  hinded  at  Plymouth  in  1629.  He 
had  charge  of  the  English  trading  port  at  Ken- 
nebec, Maine.  Mr.  Willett  married  Mary  Brown, 
daughter  of  John  Brown,  July  6,  1636,  by  whom 
he  had  eight  children.  In  1647,  he  succeeded 
Myles  Standish  as  Captain  of  the  Plymouth 
militia.  In  1651,  he  ^vas  elected  one  of  the 
Governor's  iVssistants  and  held  the  office  till 
1665,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  his  brother-in- 
law,  James  Brown,  of  Swansea.  He  was  appointed 
as  Agent  of  the  Colony  in  organizing  the  govern- 
ment at  New  York  and  reducing  affairs  to  En- 
glish Customs  and  as  a  result  was  chosen  to  be  the 
first  governor  or  Mayor  of  the  town  and  was  re- 
elected to  the  position.  The  Dutch  also  had  so 
much  confidence  in  Mr.  Willett  that  they  chose 
him  to  arbitrate  on  the  disputed  boundary  be- 
tween New  York  and  New  Haven.  In  February, 
1660,  Mr.  Willett  became  a  free  holder  in  Reho- 
both,  residing  at  Wannamoisett,  then  a  part  of 
the  wardship  of  Rehoboth,  but  within  the 
territory  of  Sowams  or  Sowamsett.  The  chimney 
of  his  house  is  now  standing  on  the  main  road, 
near  Riverside,  R.  I.,  and  not  far  from  the  home 
of  his  father-in-law,  Honorable  John  Brown. 

Mr.  Willett  cultivated  friendly  relations 
with  the  Indians  and  made  Purchase  of  Rehoboth 
North  Purchase,  (now  the  Attleboro  and  Cum- 
berland) Taunton  North  Purchase  (Norton  and 
Mansfield)  and  other  large  tracts.  For  his  ser- 
vices to  Rehoboth,  the  town,  on  the  21st  of 
February  1660,  voted  "  that  Mr.  Willett  should 
have  liberty  to  take  five  hundred  or  six  hundred 


150  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

acres  of  land  northward  or  eastward,  beyond  the 
bounds  of  our  town,  where  he  shall  think  it  most 
convenient  for  himself."  With  John  Myles  and 
John  Brown,  he  was  influential  in  the  grant  and 
settlement  of  the  town  of  Swansea,  and  the 
foundation  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  that  town, 
under  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  Mr.  M^les,  the 
ancestor  of  Major  General  Nelson  A.  Myles, 
U.  S.  A. 

After  a  few  years  residence  in  New  York, 
Mr.  Willett  returned  to  his  home  in  Wanna- 
moisett,  where  he  closed  a  useful  and  honored 
life,  August  4,  1674,  aged  63  years.  A  rough 
stone  in  the  Little  Neck  Burial  Ground  at  the 
head  of  Bullock's  Cove,  bear  this  inscription  : 


1674. 

Here  lyeth  the  body  of  the  worthy  Thomas   Willett,  Esq., 
Who    died  August  3^e  4th,  in  the  64th  year  of  his  age. 

Anno . 

Who  Was  The  First  Mayor 

OF  New  York, 

And  Twice  Did  Sustain  The  Place. 


His  wife,  Mary,  died  in  1669,  and  is  buried  by  his  side. 

Rev.  Samuel  Newman,  the  founder  and  first  pastor  of 
the  Congregational  Church,  which  now  bears  his 
name,  was  the  most  distinguished  of  the  Rehoboth 
founders  and  one  of  the  most  noted  of  the  early 
ministers  of  New  England.  His  Concordance,  a 
work  of  great  learning  and  vast  labor,  testifies  to 
the  intellectual  and  spiritual  quality  of  the  man. 


BIOGKAIMIICAL    NOTES.  151 

His  life  and  labors  have  been  so  frequently 
written  and  are  so  familiar  to  all  the  sons  of 
Rehoboth  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  the 
story. 

Benjamin  West,  L.L.  D.  This  noted  mathematician, 
philosopher  and  patriot  was  born  in  Rehoboth,  in 
the  year  1730.  His  grandfather  came  from  En- 
gland and  settled  in  the  south  part  of  the  town, 
near  the  Swansea  line.  He  was  an  astronomer 
and  occupied  a  professorship  in  Boston  University 
from  1788  to  1798.  He  was  postmaster  of  Provi- 
dence in  1802,  and  filled  the  office  until  his  death, 
in  1813,  in  the  83rd  year  of  his  age. 

Rev.  Josephus  Wheaton,  A.M.,  was  a  native  of  Reho- 
both, the  son  of  Capt.  Joseph  and  Mrs.  Sarah  A. 
Wheaton.  He  graduated  at  Brown  University, 
1812;  was  a  tutor  for  two  years ;  was  pastor  of 
Congregational  Church  in  Holliston,  Mass.,  till 
his  death  in  1825,  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven. 

Horatio  G.  Wheaton,  M.  D.,  brother  of  Josephus,  gra- 
duated at  Brown  University  in  1820,  and  died  at 
Charleston,  S.  C,  a  victim  of  yellow  fever,  1824. 
"  He  was  a  scholar  of  fine  talents  and  a  voung- 
man  of  high  promise." 

Nathan  Smith,  M.  D;,  professor  in  the  medical  schools 
of  Dartmouth,  Yale  and  Bowdoin  Colleges,  was 
born  at  Rehoboth  1762.  An  account  of  his  life 
will  be  found  in  Bliss"  History  of  Rehoboth. 

Samuel  Metcalf  Fowler,  for  some  years  the  able 
editor  of  the  Pawtqcket  Chronicle,  was  a  son  of 


152  250th  anniveksary  of  eehoboth. 

Dr.  Isaac  Fowler,  of  Rehoboth.  He  was  editor 
and  proprietor  of  the  Chronicle  until  his  death, 
in  1832,  at  the  age  of  27  years. 

Peter  Brown  Hunt,  Esq.,  was  born  in  Rehoboth,  now 
Seekonk,  February  1,  1794,  graduated  at  Brown 
University  in  1816 ;  w^as  admitted  to  Massachu- 
setts and  Rhode  Island  bars  ;  commenced  practice 
1819;  died  1831. 

Hon.  James  Ellis,  son  of  Rev.  John  Ellis,  graduated  at 
Brown  University  1791,  commenced  practice  of 
law  in  Rehoboth  ;  removed  to  Taunton,  and  held 
the  office  of  County  Attorney. 

James  Bliss,  M.  D.,  born  in  Rehoboth,  1757.  Studied 
medicine  with  Drs.  Brownson  and  Blackinton  ; 
was  a  successful  practitioner  in  Rehoboth  for 
many  years.  He  married  Hannah  Guild,  of 
Attleboro,  by  whom  he  had  twelve  children.  At 
the  age  of  19,  he  was  surgeon's  mate  in  Col. 
Carpenter's  Regiment,  in  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. '•'  He  was  a  man  of  sound  judgment,  strict 
integrity  and  great  industry  and  economy."  He 
died  in  1831. 

George  W.  Bliss,  M.  D.,  son  of  Capt.  Asa  and  Mrs. 
Polly  Bliss,  received  a  medical  diploma  at  Brown 
University  in  1822,  and  died  in  1829,  aged  39 
years. 

Darius  Carpenter,  M.  D.,  born  at  Rehoboth,  1786, 
studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Bolton  ;  commenced 
practice  in  1816,  died  1833, 


BIOGKAPHICAL   NOTES.  153 

Royal  Cakpentek,  M.  D.,  born  at  Rehobotli,  studied 
medicine  with  Dr.  Isaac  Fowler ;  commenced 
practice  in  1808  ;  married  in  1834. 

Draper  Carpenter,  M.  D.,  son  of  Daniel  Carpenter, 
born  in  Rehoboth,  1791,  graduated  Brown  Univer 
sity,  1821  ;  commenced  practice  in  1827. 

Benoni  Carpenter,  M.  D.,  born  at  Rehoboth,  1805; 
graduated  Brown  University,  1829 ;  received 
degree  M.  D.  at  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
commenced  practice  in  Pawtucket,  1832. 

Col.  Abraham  Blanding,  born  at  Rehoboth,  1775, 
graduated  Brown  University  and  studied  law 
with  Judge  Brevord,  of  Camden,  S.  C,  where  he 
commenced  the  practice  of  law ;  removed  to 
Columbia,  S.  C;  married  first  wife  Miss  Betsy 
Martin,  of  Camden,  and  for  his  second  wife  Mary 
Caroline  Desaussure,  of  Columbia. 

William  Blanding,  M.  D.,  born  at  Rehoboth,  1773, 
graduated  at  Brown  University,  1801  ;  studied 
medicine,  and  practiced  at  Attleboro  and  Cam- 
den, S.  C.  Married  Susan  Carpenter,  of  Reho- 
both, who  died  1809,  afterwards  Rachel  Wellett, 
of  Philadelphia.  His  estate  at  Rehoboth  is  now 
owaied  by  William  W.  Blanding. 

Dr.  Abram  Blanding,  son  of  James  Blanding,  Esq., 
born  in  Rehoboth  1823,  graduated  from  the 
Homeopathic  Medical  College  in  Philadelphia, 
1850.  Began  practice  of  his  profession  in 
the  West  in  1856 ;  was  a  surgeon  in  the  army 
from  1861  to  1865 ;  went  to  Florida  and  resided 
at  Palmer  until  his  death  in  1892,  in  his  70th 
year.  He  joined  the  Congregational  Church, 
Rehoboth,  in  1843. 


154  250th  anniversary  of  rehoboth. 

Rev.  Sylvester  S.  Bucklin,  was  a  Congregational 
minister. 

Rev.  Augustus  B.  Reed,  son  of  Dea.  Augustus  Reed, 
was  a  Congregational  minister. 

Thomas  Kinnicutt,  Esq.,  was  a  lawer  at  Worcester, 
Mass. 

George  A.  Bucklin,  M.  D.,  graduated  Brown  Univer- 
sity 1824  ;  first  read  law  and  then  studied  medi- 
cine with  Dr.  Wells,  of  Columbia,  S.  C;  died 
1829,  on  his  journey  from  New  Orleans  to  Texas. 

Shubal  Peck,  graduated  Brown  Universit}^ ;  died  soon 
after  graduation. 

Johnson  Gardner,  M.  D.,  son  of  James  Gardner,  of 
Rehoboth,  born  1799 ;  a  student  at  Brown 
University  ;  studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Lewis 
Wheaton,  of  Providence,  and  received  degrees  of 
M.  D.,  1824;  married  Phebe  L.  Sisson,  1829, 
was  a  practicing  physician  in  Pawtucket,  R.  I. 

Zenas  Bllss,  a.  M.,  son  of  Jonathan  Bliss,  read  law  but 
became  a  manufacturer  and  lived  in  Johnson, 
R.  I.  His  son,  Zenas  Bliss,  is  a  graduate  of  West 
Point  Military  School  and  is  now  a  Brigadier 
General  in  the  United  States  Army,  1895. 

William  Blanding  Carpenter,  M.  D.,  born  1810, 
graduated  Brown  University,  1829,  with  salu- 
tatory addresses,  studied  medicine  with  Dr. 
Parsons,  Providence  ;  died  1830.  Was  a  student 
of  great  promise. 

Edward  P.  Brown,  the  son  of  Dea.  E.  A.  Brown,  of 
Rehoboth,  was  born  about  the  year  1848,  prepared 
for  college  at  the  Rehoboth  High  School,  then 
under  the  charge  of  Thomas    W.  Bicknell;   at 


BIOGRAPHICAL   NOTES.  155 

Thetford  Academy,  Tlietford,  Vt.,  and  at  the 
University  Grammar-  School,  Providence,  R.  I.; 
entered  Brown  University  in  1859 ;  enlisted  as 
private  in  a  Rhode  Island  Regiment  in  1862, 
returned  in  1865,  with  the  rank  of  Major  by 
brevet ;  graduated  from  the  Universit}^  in  class 
of  1867,  from  Harvard  Law  School  in  1869; 
entered  on  practice  of  law  at  North  Attleboro, 
Mass.,  and  removed  to  Boston  in  1870 ;  built  up 
a  valuable  business  and  was  a  member  of  the 
General  Court  from  Boston  for  three  years  ; 
conducted  the  celebrated  case  of  General  and 
Governor  Benj.  F.  Butler,  vs.  the  managers  of 
the  Tewksbury  Alms  House,  in  behalf  of  that 
institution  and  won  the  verdict  of  acquittal  of 
the  charges  made  by  the  Governor ;  is  now  con- 
ducting a  general  law  business  in  the  City  of 
New  York.  (1895) 

Hon.  Jeremiah  W.  Horton,  of  Newport,  R.  I.,  is  one  of 
Rehoboth's  most  promising  and  successful  sons. 
He  is  the  son  of  Tamerlane  Horton  and  obtained 
his  education  in  the  schools  of  Rehoboth  includino* 

o 

several  terms  at  the  High  School.  He  is  now 
(1895)  a  successful  merchant  in  Newport ;  has 
been  honored  by  an  election  to  the  mayoralty  of 
the  city,  (1893)  declining  a  re-election ;  he  has 
also  been  colonel  of  the  Newport  Artillery  and 
is  now  a  representative  to  the  General  Assembly 
from  that  city.  He  is  a  public  spirited  citizen 
and  his  character  and  attainments  reflect  honor 
upon  his  family  and  native  town. 

Edgar  Perry,  Esq.,  is  one  of  the  brightest  and  ablest  of 
the  younger  sons  of  Rehoboth.     He  has  had  the 


156  250th  anniversaey  of  rehoboth. 

education  and  training  of  a  journalist,  graduating 
from  an  Attleboro  jDaper  to  the  Cleveland  Press, 
and  thence  advancing  to  the  Boston  Herald.  He 
is  Boston  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune 
and  other  papers,  and  his  future  is  full  of  hope 
and  success.  He  was  one  of  the  main  movers  in 
the  celebration  of  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  the  town  and  as  a  member  of  the 
Committee  of  Arrangements  was  most  efficient 
in  making  it  a  successful  occasion. 

The  Goffs  as  Manufacturers.  The  biographical 
notice  of  Mr.  Darius  Goff  gives  an  account  of 
his  relation  to  the  manufacturing  interets  of 
Rehoboth,  but  fails  to  state  the  work  of  his 
ancestors  in  utilizing  the  water  power  of  the 
village  tributary  to  Palmer's  River.  The  fact  is 
that  Joseph  Goff,  of  Rehoboth,  used  the  water- 
power  of  this  stream,  at  or  near  the  village,  for 
sawing  lumber  and  other  mill  purposes  prior  to 
the  year  1764.  His  son,  Richard  Goff,  used  the 
power  of  the  same  stream  for  running  a  fulling 
mill  prior  to  January  1776.  His  sons.  Nelson 
and  Darius,  succeeded  their  father,  Richard,  in 
the  use  of  the  same  stream,  in  operating  the  mill 
of  the  Rehoboth  Union  Manufacturing  Company, 
and  still  further  in  the  erection  of  a  mill  prior  to 
1840  for  the  manufacture  of  batting  and  wadding 
which  was  one  of  the  first  of  its  class  in  the 
country.  Lyman  and  Darius  Goff ,  of  Pawtucket, 
the  sons  of  Darius,  are  the  fourth  generation  of 
manufacturers  from  Joseph,  who  harnessed  the 
runaway  waters  of  Palmer's  River  to  practical 
uses,  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  years  ago. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES. 


157 


Other  Important  Manufacturing  Interests.  The 
men  who  first  formed  the  Rehoboth  Union  Manu- 
facturing Company  were  Dexter  Wheeler, 
Richard  Goff,  Stephen  Carpenter,  Thomas  Car- 
penter, James  Carpenter  and  Peter  Carpenter. 
The  building  was  erected  at  RehoLoth  Village  in 
1809,  and  the  machinery  was  introduced  for 
manufacturing  yarns.  The  number  of  spindles 
was  360,  run  by  14  hands,  making  550  pounds  of 
yarn  a  week.  James  Carpenter  was  first  agent, 
succeeded  by  David  Anthony,  William  Marvel 
and  Dea.  E.  A.  Brown. 

This  mill  was  afterwards  owned  and  oper- 
ated by  Nelson  and  Darius  Goff  and  Stephen 
Carpenter. 

The  Cotton  factory,  at  Orleans  Village, 
Rehoboth,  was  built  in  the  year  1811,  the  prin- 
cipal stockholders  being  Asa  Bullock,  Bernard 
Wheeler,  Capt.  Israel  Nichols,  of  Rehoboth, 
Thomas  Church,  John  Howe  and  Capt.  Benjamin 
Norris,  of  Bristol,  and  Richmond  Bullock,  of 
Providence.  In  1825,  David  Wilkinson  bought 
the  property  and  put  in  new  machinery  consisting 
of  48  looms  with  spindles  and  preparations  to 
supply  them.  This  is  said  to  be  the  first  success- 
ful attempt  to  used  spindles  called  mules  for 
warp  as  well  as  woof  in  the  manufacture  of  fine 
cloths  for  calico  printing.  It  is  a  matter  of 
interesting  record  that  Dexter  Wheeler  and  David 
Anthony,  of  Rehoboth,  were  among  the  first 
founders  of  the  manufacturing  interests  of  the 
City  of  Fall  River,  Mass.,  and  that  they  were 
part  owners  of  the  first  cotton  factory  erected  in 
that  city. 


INDEX. 


Address  ol  Welcome,  Edgar  Perry,  15—24 

"      llecognition,  Thomas  W.  Bicknell,  25—7 

"      Response,  Bradford  Hawes,  28—32 

•'             "           Edward  M.  Thurston,  32—5 

"             •'           Fred.  P.  Church,  36-8 

"             "           Kev.  John  Whitehill,  39-44 

"             "           Joseph  Brown,  45—50 

"            "           George  N.  Bliss,  51—3 

"            «*          Jeremiah  W.  Horton,  53—7 

"      Historical,  Edwin  L.  Barney,  58—77 

"             "            Albert  Mason,  78—82 

"             "            John  W.  Davis,  83—108 

"            "            Edward  C.  Pierce,  109—10 

Attleboro,  38 

"        North,  39 

Barney,  Edwin  L.,  Historical  Address  58 

Barrington,  35 

Bicknell,  Thomas  W.,  Address,  25 

"                     Poem,  113 

"                      Biog.  Sketch,  147 

Blanding,  William  W.                  "  2, 137 

"        Col.  Abraham              "  153 

"        William;  M,D.,           "  153 

"        Abram;M.D.,  153 

Bliss,  James;  M.  D.,  152 

"     George  W.;M.D.,  152 

"     George  N.,  51 

"      Zenus,A.  M.,  154 

Brown,  Joseph  45 

"     Edward  P.  154 

Bucklin,  Rev.  Sylvester  S..  154 

George  A.,  M.D.,  154 

Carpenter,  Benoni,  M.  D.,  153 

"         Darius,  152 

"         Draper,  M.  D.  153 

"         Royal,  M.  D.  153 

"         William  B.  154 

Church,  Fred.  P.  36 

Committee  onRehoboth  Celebration,  2 

Cumberland,  51 

Davis,  Elisha  2,  139 

Davis,  John  W.  83, 141 


INDEX. 

East  Providence,  51 

Educational  Progress,  8 

Ellis,  James  152 

Fowler,  Samuel  M.  151 

Gardner,  Jolinson,  M.  D.  154 

Goff,  Darius  129 

Goff ,  George  N.  2,  138 

Gofls,  as  manufacturers,  156 

Hawes,  Bradford  28 

Horton,  Nathaniel  B.  2,  136 

Horton,  Jeremiah  W.  53,155 

Hunt,  Peter  Brown  152 

History,  Religious  9 


Indian  Conflicts. 


Patriotism, 
Peck,  GustavusB. 
"      Shubael 


7 


Introduction,  2 

Kinnicutt,  Thomas                                  .  154 

Manufacturing  Enterprises,  11,  156,  157 

Men  Notable,  13 

Mason,  Albert  78 

Newman,  Samuel  4^  9^  13  159 

Newport,  R.  I.  53 

Notable  Men,  13 


10 

2,140 

1S4 


Pierce,  Edward  C.  109 

"      Esek  H.  2  135 

Perry,  Edgar  2, 15,'  155 

Poem,  Thomas  W.  Bicknell,  113 

Pawtucket,  5q 

Rehoboth,  brief  review  by  Edgar  Perry,  3_14 

Rehoboth,  250th  Celebration,  2 

Reed,  Augustus  B.  Rev.  154 

Review,  Brief  Historic  3—15 

Schools,  Free  g  jg 

Seekonk,  '  ^^ 

Smith,  Nathan,  M.  D.  151 

Swansea,  32 

Tiepke,  Henry  E.  51 

Thurston,  Edward  M.  32 

Willett,  Thomas  4^  13^  69^  14g 

West,  Benjamin  251 

Wheaton,  Rev,  Josephus  151 

Wheaton,  Horatio  G.,  M.  D.  151 

Weymouth,  28 

Whitehill,  Rev.  John  00 


